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The accommodation of indigenous norms in international criminal justice institutions: the case for hybridty
No full textThis article was originally published in International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice . The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01924036.2026.2618242
© 2026 School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University
“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice on 27 Jan 2026 available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01924036.2026.2618242”
This article is under embargo until July 27, 202This paper uses the concept of hybridity as developed by the postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha to critique and reconstruct the foundations of international criminal law. Examining three aspects of contemporary international criminal justice (its modes of evaluating evidence, its substantive law, and its penal practices), it argues that the system is rooted in eurocentric, liberal notions of criminal justice. In response to this problem, hybrid courts represent a normative opening where western and nonwestern justice traditions can negotiate the nature of justice and law in a fashion that is captured by Bhabha’s theory. It concludes with reflections on how hybrid courts can be strengthened to develop a more inclusive model of international criminal justice
Offline politics, online control: rethinking the global rise of digital authoritarianism
No full textBagozzi, Benjamin E.Carrión, Julio F.A growing body of literature which erupted in late 2000s have been studying the upsurge in authoritarian use of digital technologies. This phenomenon has been widely described as digital authoritarianism. Much of these extant literatures on this topic, however, a) often implicitly assume that regime type alone accounts for the emergence of digital authoritarianism resulting in an overemphasis on authoritarianism regimes, or b) focus disproportionately on external influences, particularly on China, as the primary driver of digital authoritarianism’s origin and diffusion. In contrast to such a one- dimensional approach which does not adequately engage with domestic dynamics, this dissertation project investigates domestic and international drivers of digital authoritarianism across regimes. The central question guiding this project is—what are the domestic and international forces shaping the rise of digital authoritarianism, and how do the dynamics of digital authoritarianism manifest across different political and regional contexts particularly in hybrid regimes? At chapter levels, the research questions are: to what extent does regime type explain variation in digital authoritarian practices across countries? Does a state's cyber capacity, whether technical, infrastructural, or resource-based, influence its tendency to engage in digital authoritarian practices? To what extent, if any, do digitally mobilized political actions contribute to the escalation of digital authoritarianism? (Chapter 2); to what extent is China actively exporting digital authoritarian practices to other states (Chapter 3); how do contemporary techniques of digital authoritarianism manifest in hybrid regimes and what underlying motivations drive such practice in these regimes? Across the three core chapters which combined cross-national statistical analysis (Chapter 2 and Chapter 3) and an in-depth case study of hybrid regime in Bangladesh (Chapter 4), the empirical evidence in this dissertation project underscores the significance of domestic factors in shaping driving the global emergence of digital authoritarianism. Furthermore, the findings challenge dominant narrative that attributes the global rise of digital authoritarianism primarily to China. Overall, this dissertation project draws attention to the role of domestic dynamics that shape adaption of digital authoritarianism and calls for greater caution in over-emphasizing on China’s role as the primary driver of digital authoritarian practices across the world.University of Delaware, Department of Political Science and International RelationsPh.D
Perspectives on domestic violence in rural U.S. communities during the COVID-19 pandemic
No full text© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
This article was originally published in Critical Public Health. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2025.2609414Introduction: Services for domestic violence (DV) victims have long been limited in rural areas due to geographic isolation, lack of transportation, and limited access to legal services, housing, and health services. While virtual services developed during COVID-19 expanded access for some, this shift potentially worsened rural disparities related to Internet access, housing and transportation, and resource shortages. Theory: Evidence from research and practice demonstrate empowerment-based services improve victim outcomes by building knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy. However, little is known about the impact disruptions to social contexts due to disasters and emergencies may have on the delivery of empowerment-based services. Method: Executive directors of State and Territorial DV coalitions completed key informant interviews. Additional data were collected with open-ended questions in an online survey of shelters and service providers. Results: Coalition leaders and program staff reported limited success with virtual support for rural victims. While virtual support could help when in-person support was infeasible, it was difficult to maintain rural victim safety and privacy with poor internet connections and limited internet fluency. Sheltering in rural areas was difficult without hoteling and other unique challenges (e.g., responsibility for livestock) could not be addressed with virtual solutions. Discussion: While the shift to virtual services during COVID-19 allowed for maintenance of some services, there were challenges for the workforce and victims. There were unique obstacles to virtual services in rural areas. Equitable access to DV services for rural victims will require concerted efforts to close documented and anticipated gaps.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant 2115943. The findings and conclusions of this research are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the NSF
Peptide-Reinforced Photocrosslinkable PEG-based Hydrogels
No full textOpen Access Article. Published on 05 January 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
This article was originally published in RCS Applied Polymers. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5LP00335KHydrogels are polymer networks that swell in aqueous solvents. These materials have applications in many fields, including drug delivery, tissue engineering, and soft robotics. For example, polyethylene glycol (PEG) diacrylate is often used as a light-curable crosslinker for the synthesis of PEG-based hydrogels, e.g., in bioinks for 3D printing. However, a common limitation of PEG hydrogels is their typically poor mechanical properties, particularly when in a swollen state. The mechanical strength of natural polymeric materials, such as spider silk and collagen, arises from the formation of hierarchical secondary protein structures that unfold under mechanical load. Here, we present a bio-inspired approach to reinforcing PEG-based hydrogels that mimic these hierarchical structures by incorporating poly(β-benzyl-L-aspartate) (PBLA) blocks between cross-linking end groups and PEG chain segments. We used this peptide-containing crosslinker in combination with a small hydrophilic comonomer, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, to synthesise PHEA-linked by-(PBLA-b-PEG-b-PBLA) conetworks with tailored compositions, yielding improved and tailorable mechanical properties. This approach affords hydrogels with increased strength and toughness while retaining the networks’ swelling ability. This research presents a promising avenue for developing robust photocrosslinkable hydrogels with broad practical applications.The project received funding from the Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE) Bioinspired Materials and Systems, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. OISE 1844463 and the Swiss National Science Foundation under Grant No. IZPIP0_177995. Moreover, this work benefited from support from the Swiss National Science Foundation through the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Bio-Inspired Materials (Grant No. 51NF40-205603)
It Takes More than a Village: Involvement in Positive LGBTQIA+ Socialization from Origin Family, Chosen Family, Community, and Parasocial Relationships.
No full textThis article was originally published in LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/27703371.2026.2632339
This article will be embargoed until February 01, 2027
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal on 18 February 2026 available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/27703371.2026.2632339Parents remain the focus of LGBTQIA+ socialization and contributions of other family and non-family relationships remain unknown. We identified who contributes to positive LGBTQIA+ socialization using a broad, queered definition of family.
Data from the Queer Joy Project (New Zealand and United States, 2023-2024) included LGBTQIA+ adolescents and adults (ages 16-71; n=490). Using repeated measures ANOVA, frequency of positive LGBTQIA-related messages while growing up were compared across origin family, chosen family, community, and media. Qualitative content analysis of brief narratives identified who positively influenced participants’ sense of LGBTQIA+ self.
Positive messages were most frequent from chosen family, then media, origin family, and community (F=280.03, p<.001). Transgender and nonbinary participants received positive messages from origin family less frequently than cisgender participants (t=2.27; p=0.03). Generation Z participants received positive messages more frequently in all relationship domains compared to older participants (Fs=19.61–55.14; ps<.001). In narratives, participants most frequently identified chosen family (48.3%), community (22.8%), origin family (18.3%), and parasocial relationships (16.3%). Many participants (69.6%) identified someone who was LGBTQIA+.
LGBTQIA+ socialization could be enhanced by improving origin family participation and increasing youth access to LGBTQIA+ peers, community, and media. Future positive social research and practice should broaden and diversify conceptualization of family.Funding for this research was provided by the Massey University School of Psychology Postgraduate Research Fund and by the University of Delaware College of Education and Human Development
Reinforcement and error feedback differentilly impact motor exploration during locomotion
No full textJeka, John J.Error-based feedback is typically thought to play the dominant role in learning a new movement pattern, yet reinforcement feedback promises critical impact as well. Reaching studies show that a lack of reinforcement (failure) causes greater variability while positive reinforcement (success) updates the intended motor action towards the last success, leading to greater exploration of the solution space. Here we investigated the roles and interplay of reinforcement and error feedback on motor exploration while walking and the impact on balance due to adjusting to the feedback. Twenty-four healthy young subjects walked on an instrumented treadmill with a 180° virtual reality screen presenting feedback on their step length or step width. Subjects were instructed to match a target step length or width created from their baseline left step length or width. Error feedback displayed their left foot step length or width as a line along with a gray box target length. Reinforcement feedback showed the gray target for each step outside the target range and the target would turn blue when their left foot step length or width was within the target range. Lag-1 autocorrelations, which represent the level of exploratory behavior, were calculated for each condition. A bootstrapped hypothesis test on the paired differences showed that baseline walking and reinforcement feedback led to greater motor exploration than error feedback for step length targets, but not for step width targets. Error feedback yielded corrective behavior regardless of step length or width target conditions. Moreover, lag-1 autocorrelations with reinforcement feedback were no different from baseline walking for step length or width conditions. Analysis of the balance mechanisms showed that step width feedback provides a greater change in balance strategy compared to baseline walking. The reinforcement condition had a larger influence on center of mass on mediolateral step placement than baseline. The center of mass was less predictive of ankle roll for the step width target conditions than at baseline, showing that subjects were relying on feedback to regulate their step dynamics more than their internal sense of center of mass. Our results indicate that the way error and reinforcement feedback are regulated in reaching behavior is generalizable to the regulation of step length. However, maintenance of upright balance leads to reduced exploration for step width targets of error or reinforcement feedback, as well as change in the use of the balance mechanisms.University of Delaware, Department of Kinesiology and Applied PhysiologyM.S.University of Delaware, Biomechanics and Movement Science Progra
Enzyme cascades for synthesis of value-added molecules from carboxylic acids
No full text"At the request of the author or degree granting institution, this graduate work is not available to view or purchase until January 05 2027."--ProQuest abstract/details page.Chen, WilfredKunjapur, Aditya M.To better incentivize the collection and recycling of plastic waste, new chemical transformations must be developed. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a recalcitrant plastic whose deconstruction through chemical or biological means has recently received much attention. However, a limited number of functionalized products have been formed from aromatic deconstruction products like terephthalic acid (TPA) and mono(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalate (MHET). In this thesis, I explored using TPA and MHET from PET deconstruction as starting materials for the green synthesis of valuable aryl (di)amines through biocatalysis. Biocatalysis and microbial fermentation efforts in this space have long focused on production of short- and medium-chain aliphatic diamines. Even so, there is a distinct gap for synthesis of (di)amines with an aromatic moiety, many of which may prove useful in applications such as formation of nonisocyanate polyurethanes and polyamides. ☐ The first part of this work focuses on developing a multienzyme cascade to synthesize (di)aldehydes and (di)amines from PET deconstruction products like TPA and MHET. Through a bioprospecting approach, we purified and characterized ATP- and NADPH-dependent carboxylic acid reductases (CAR), a class of enzymes that reduce carboxylic acids to aldehydes. We identified the CAR from Segniliparus rotundus (srCAR) as having both the broadest substrate scope and the highest activity toward TPA and MHET out of 17 tested enzymes. Building on this, we coupled aldehyde biosynthesis with enzymatic reductive amination in a one-pot reaction by applying the ω-transaminase from Chromobacterium violaceum (cvTA). After I paired the system with enzymatic cofactor regeneration, the final 5-enzyme reductive amination platform converted 10 mM TPA to para-xylylenediamine (pXYL) at 69% yield, and 5 mM MHET to para-aminomethylbenzoic acid (pAMBA) at 70% yield. By combining the synergies of chemical depolymerization with biocatalytic functionalization, I demonstrated, to my knowledge, the first reports of CAR specificity towards TPA and enzymatic production of TPAL and pXYL. This work lays the foundation for eventual valorization of waste PET to higher-value materials that can be made from pXYL. ☐ Next, I explored scale-up and process intensification of the multienzyme diamine synthesis cascade by applying E. coli cell-free lysates as the biocatalyst source. While lysates are cheaper to produce than purified proteins, they contain endogenous enzymes that divert reaction intermediates, especially aldehydes, to off-target products. Under lysate conditions, I observed up to 28% accumulation of alcohol products due to overreduction of aldehydes by endogenous E. coli enzymes. To mitigate this issue, I generated lysates from E. coli MG1655(DE3) RARE.Δ16, a strain engineered to minimize aldehyde overreduction, which restored cascade selectivity. Building on this improvement, I then alleviated bottlenecks associated with ATP regeneration, which allowed an 87% HPLC yield of pXYL from a 2.5 mmol reaction (50 mL, 50 mM). I then isolated pXYL from the aqueous reaction, yielding 174 mg of product, representing an overall yield of 51%. ☐ In the final stage, I focused on enzyme engineering to improve process tolerance, substrate scope, and thermostability of CAR. Starting from a panel of extant CARs that are active on aliphatic, aromatic, heterocyclic, and polycyclic substrates, I collaborated with Daniel Woldring’s lab at Michigan State University to apply ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) to generate 39 ancestral CAR variants, of which I tested 34. Several ASR CARs showed enhanced thermostability and activity when measured against the extant enzymes. Notably, some ASR CARs efficiently converted sterically demanding ortho-substituted benzoic acids into their respective aldehydes, expanding access to valuable scaffolds in pharmaceutical synthesis like quinolines and coumarins. ☐ This work advances the valorization of PET-derived monomers by developing enzyme cascades for the synthesis of aldehydes and diamines, integrating process intensification, and exploring enzyme engineering. I first established a multienzyme platform coupling CAR- and TA-catalyzed transformations with cofactor regeneration to convert TPA and MHET into value-added products like pXYL and pAMBA. Transitioning to E. coli cell-free lysates enabled cost-effective scale-up, while using the aldehyde-stabilizing strain RARE.Δ16 mitigated off-target reduction and improved selectivity. Finally, ancestral sequence reconstruction yielded CAR variants with enhanced thermostability, activity, and substrate scope, including efficient reduction of sterically hindered ortho-substituted benzoic acids, expanding access to high-value aldehyde synthons.University of Delaware, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringPh.D
Observational evidence of along-shore exchange between Bransfield Strait and the central West Antarctic Peninsula
No full textMoffat, Carlos F.Melting of Antarctic continental ice has a significant impact on rising global sea levels. Glacial retreat via basal melting is strongly modulated by ocean thermal forcing from shelf bottom waters. The temperature distribution of these shelf bottom waters helps categorize shelf regions around Antarctica as either warm or cold shelves. Considerable work has been undertaken in understanding the processes that set these independent thermal shelf regimes in isolation. However, less is known about along-shore exchange between warm and cold shelves around Antarctica. Using a novel mooring array deployed from December 2022 to December 2023 I investigate the exchange between the warm central West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) shelf and the cold Bransfield Strait shelf. Using this data, I characterize the subtidal mean flow and its (seasonal) variability with depth through key pathways into Bransfield Strait, from the south through the Low-Hoseason Island Gap, and from offshore through Boyd Strait. In general, strong subtidal mean inflows in both the Low-Hoseason Island Gap and Boyd Strait are met with weak outflowing countercurrents, however there is a notable seasonality to these flow intensities. I supplement the subtidal mean flow characterization with a tidal analysis in which I find both significant semi-diurnal and diurnal tidal motions with small ellipticities often aligning with local bathymetry. I quantify exchange by calculating volume flux into Bransfield Strait and by conducting a water mass analysis at every mooring. Flux results through both Boyd Strait and the Low-Hoseason Island Gap show a reduction of flow into Bransfield Strait during winter. The weaker flows transporting water out of Bransfield Strait is more persistent, showing little seasonality. Significant seasonal variability is also evident in the results of the water mass analysis. Warm water masses characteristic of the central WAP dominate in southern Bransfield Strait in fall months with cool water masses characteristic of Bransfield Strait peaking in spring months. To understand the frequency and intensity of cold water intrusions in the central WAP I conduct an event-based analysis at a mooring off Anvers Island showing synoptic-scale deep cooling events consistent with the seasonal variability observed in Bransfield Strait. My results help confirm prior modeling work which had yet to be validated via observations and expands our understanding of circulation in this region and how it evolves seasonally and with depth. This work has implications for calculating future regional heat budgets at depth and by season. More accurate heat budgets derived from observations will help produce more accurate models that will increase our understanding of the magnitude and variability (seasonal or inter-annual) of glacial melt and hence sea level rise.University of Delaware, School of Marine Science and PolicyM.S