Digital Commons Network^™

Turning To The "Darkside": Fanficition As A Training Tool For Aspiring Genre Fiction Authors, Rhonda Mcginnis

Library Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Citizens For Peace Minutes 11-13-07, Linda J. Lieder

Citizens for Peace

The 4th Anniversary meeting of the Citizens for Peace opened at 7:00 pm with a welcome by President, Colleen Mills. She introduced Yusif Barakat, who led the group in a Native American Blessing: Prayer of the Six Directions. The many members and visitors then enjoyed a fabulous International themed buffet, with delicious dishes made by members. After enjoying the diverse selection of foods, Colleen shared a DVD clip of the Live Earth concert featuring Melissa Etheridge singing a very inspiring song – “Imagine That”.

Relative Pareto Minimizers To Multiobjective Problems: Existence And Optimality Conditions, Truong Q. Bao, Boris S. Mordukhovich

Mathematics Research Reports

In this paper we introduce and study enhanced notions of relative Pareto minimizers to constrained multiobjective problems that are defined via several kinds of relative interiors of ordering cones and occupy intermediate positions between the classical notions of Pareto and weak Pareto efficiency/minimality. Using advanced tools of variational analysis and generalized differentiation, we establish the existence of relative Pareto minimizers to general multiobjective problems under a refined version of the subdifferential Palais-Smale condition for set-valued mappings with values in partially ordered spaces and then derive necessary optimality conditions for these minimizers (as well as for conventional efficient and weak efficient …

Citizens For Peace Minutes 10-09-07, Linda J. Lieder

Citizens for Peace

The Peace Speakers group, comprised of members of the Citizens for Peace, is here to speak about the Department of Peace and Nonviolence legislation. They have been working on this presentation for the past few months, studying the Bill, and gathering statistics.

A Preliminary Investigation Of Affective Interaction In Chronic Pain Couples, Ayna B. Johansen, Annmarie Cano

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

The objective of this preliminary study was to examine the extent to which affective marital interaction related to depressive symptoms in persons with chronic pain and their spouses and to pain severity in persons with pain. Couples from the community completed self-report surveys and engaged in a videotaped conversation on a topic of mutual disagreement that was coded for three affect types (i.e., anger/contempt, sadness, humor). Humor was positively related to marital satisfaction in both partners. Spouse anger/contempt and sadness were positively related to depressive symptoms in spouses. Several significant interaction effects between couple pain status (i.e., whether one or …

The First Amendment Right To Silence, Robert A. Sedler

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Income Vs. Race Effects In Refund Anticipation Loan Utilization, Richard J. Smith

Social Work Faculty Publications

This purpose of this paper is to illustrate how data can target outreach for social and economic justice by testing for an association between refund anticipation loan (RAL) utilization and a Zip code’s racial and income characteristics. RALs are rapid tax refunds marketed by tax preparers.

Outsourcing In U.S. Cities, Ambulances And Elderly Voters, Matthew J. Holian

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

Many of the largest cities in the United States outsource emergency medical services. This paper develops a political economy model of city service provision. Empirical analysis of emergency ambulances in the 200 largest U.S. cities finds that a number of variables are significant determinants of amblu- ance outsourcing, including the fraction of a city's voters over the age of 65. This finding provides evidence that interest-group politics are important, and suggests a particular shape of the contracting cost curve.

Circumstances And Suggestions Of Youth Who Run From Out-Of-Home Care, Angelique Day, Joanne Riebschleger

Social Work Faculty Publications

Th is study examined the preceding circumstances of youth that ran from out-of-home care. Youth off ered suggestions for preventing future running episodes. Data was drawn from 111 case records of three county courts in southeastern Lower Michigan. Data were also drawn from four focus groups of youth living in out-of-home care (n=24). Circumstances that preceded youth running included female gender, African- American ethnicity, more restrictive placements, prior running episodes, and separations from siblings and children. Focus group youth expressed concerns about placement disruptions, rules, chores, diff erential treatment, loss of control, safety, and especially, feeling that “no one cares …

Citizens For Peace Minutes 09-11-07, Linda J. Lieder

Citizens for Peace

Remembering 9/11 and transforming ourselves from fear to love. Members shared inspirational readings that included messages of Forgiveness, Cooperation and Gratefulness. Also included in the inspirational readings were quotes from Daisaku Ikeda, Dag Hammarskjold, Mother Theresa, Kabir Helminski, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswamil, the Prayer of St. Francis and an Interfaith Statement delivered to every Congressional Office and to the White House on Sept. 20th, 2001

Singing Down The Barriers: Encouraging Singers Of All Racial Backgrounds To Perform Music By African American Composers, Caroline Helton, Emery Stephens

Music Faculty Research Publications

This chapter investigates the barriers faced by singers of all racial backgrounds when performing spirituals and African American art songs and suggests ways to eliminate those barriers.

Image Reconstruction In Multi-Channel Model Under Gaussian Noise, Veera Holdai, Alexander Korostelev

Mathematics Research Reports

The image reconstruction from noisy data is studied. A nonparametric boundary function is estimated from observations in N independent channels in Gaussian white noise. In each channel the image and the background intensities are unknown. They define a non-identifiable nuisance "parameter" that slows down the typical minimax rate of convergence. The large sample asymptotics of the minimax risk is found and an asymptotically optimal estimator for boundary function is suggested.

Diagnostic Classifications And Resource Utilization Of Decedents Served By The Department Of Veterans Affairs, Sonia A. Duffy, Laurel Copeland, Faith Hopp, Robert J. Zalenski

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: Given the volume and cost of inpatient care during the last year of life, there is a critical need to identify patterns of dying as a means of planning end-of-life care services, especially for the growing number of older persons who receive services from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Methods: A retrospective computerized record review was conducted of 20,933 VHA patients who died as inpatients between October 1, 2001 and September 30, 2002. Diagnoses were aggregated into one of five classification patterns of death and analyzed in terms of health care resource utilization (mean number of inpatient days and …

How Does Michigan Fare In The Fight To Improve Outcomes For Youth Aging Out Of Foster Care? A Response From The State And One Of Its Communities, Angelique Day, Deboraha Watson

Social Work Faculty Publications

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, one-half-million children are in foster care at any given time, some of whom are over the age of 16. Every year, typically at the age of 18, approximately 20,000 of these children will age out of the foster care system. Many of these youths fi nd themselves making an abrupt transition to adulthood and independence with little or no assistance from their caregivers, biological families, or the child welfare system. Unlike their same-age peers in the general population, they have no safety net if they fail to succeed at navigating …

Councils Of Government And Nonprofit Community Conferences, Kelly Leroux

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

No abstract provided.

Necessary Conditions For Super Minimizers In Constrained Multiobjective Optimization, Truong Q. Bao, Boris S. Mordukhovich

Mathematics Research Reports

This paper concerns the study of the so-called super minimizers related to the concept of super efficiency in constrained problems of multiobjective optimization, where cost mappings are generally set-valued. We derive necessary conditions for super minimizers on the base of advanced tools of variational analysis and generalized differentiation that are new in both finite-dimensional and infinite-dimensional settings for problems with single-valued and set-valued objectives.

Citizens For Peace Minutes 08-08-07, Linda J. Lieder

Citizens for Peace

After a brief break for refreshments, the group watched the movie, The Reluctant Prophet, by Fr. George Zabelka. This 1988 documentary explores Zabelka’s trips to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan to ask for forgiveness for these terrible crimes. The film included footage of the Pantex Nuclear Bomb plant in Amarillo, Texas, that is producing 5-8 mega bombs per day and transporting 180 bombs every three months for the Trident subs. The film also showed how we knowingly napalmed Dresden. Napalm is immoral and we knew it meant death for all civilians, yet we did it. Without repentance for these actions, there …

Testing Thermal Reprocessing In Active Galactic Nuclei Accretion Discs, Edward M. Cackett, Keith Horne, Hartmut Winkler

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

The thermal reprocessing hypothesis in active galactic nuclei (AGN), where extreme ultraviolet/X-ray photons are reprocessed by the accretion disc into optical/UV photons, predicts wavelength-dependent time-delays between the optical continuum at different wavelengths. Recent photometric monitoring by Sergeev et al. has shown that the time-delay is observed in 14 AGN, and generally seen to increase with increasing wavelength, as predicted in the reprocessing scenario. We fit the observed time-delays and optical spectral energy distribution using a disc reprocessing model. The model delivers estimates for the nuclear reddening, the product of black hole mass and accretion rate, and the distance to each …

Visual Materials And Online Access: Issues Concerning Content Representation, Joan E. Beaudoin

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

A more holistic view of the current situation surrounding image access is needed. Much of the research into content representation of images appears not to recognize a number of basic issues underlying the difficulty in achieving satisfactory results in this area. Beyond the lack of institutional support typically seen in collections of printed matter, visual materials have not received the level of intellectual research needed to develop the theoretical bases behind their access. Several basic issues stand out as being critical obstacles to providing access to visual materials, including a lack of agreement concerning types of information needed, a lack …

Explaining Horizontal And Vertical Cooperation On Public Services In Michigan: The Role Of Local Fiscal Capacity, Jered B. Carr, Elisabeth R. Gerber, Eric W. Lupher

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

Michigan local governments engage in a wide range of cooperative activities. Little is known, however, about what factors motivate local governments to engage in intergovernmental cooperation and how local government officials choose among various forms of collaboration. We develop and test a theory of intergovernmental cooperation that explains differences in the factors that lead local governments to engage in horizontal cooperation with other local units versus vertical cooperation with county or state governments. Our primary focus is on fiscal capacity: we hypothesize that limited fiscal capacity leads many local governments, especially townships, to work collaboratively with state or county actors …

Optimization And Feedback Design Of State-Constrained Parabolic Systems, Boris S. Mordukhovich

Mathematics Research Reports

The paper is devoted to optimal control and feedback design of stateconstrained parabolic systems in uncertainty conditions. Problems of this type are among the most challenging and difficult in dynamic optimization for any kind of dynamical systems. We pay the main attention to considering linear multidimensional parabolic'systems with Dirichlet boundary controls and pointwise state constraints, while the methods developed in this study are applicable to other kinds of boundary controls and dynamical systems of the parabolic type. The feedback design problem is formulated in the minimax sense to ensure stabilization of transients within the prescribed diapason and robust stability of …

Camp Response Element-Binding Protein Deficiency Allows For Increased Neurogenesis And A Rapid Onset Of Antidepressant Response, Tamar L. Gur, Alana C. Conti, Jessica Holden, Anita J. Bechtholt, Tiffany E. Hill, Irwin Lucki, Jessica E. Malberg, Julie A. Blendy

Neurosurgery Faculty Publications

cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) has been implicated in the molecular and cellular mechanisms of chronic antidepressant (AD) treatment, although its role in the behavioral response is unclear. CREB-deficient (CREB^αΔ mutant) mice demonstrate an antidepressant phenotype in the tail suspension test (TST) and forced-swim test. Here, we show that, at baseline, CREB^αΔ mutant mice exhibited increased hippocampal cell proliferation and neurogenesis compared with wild-type (WT) controls, effects similar to those observed in WT mice after chronic desipramine (DMI) administration. Neurogenesis was not further augmented by chronic DMI treatment in CREB^αΔ mutant mice. Serotonin depletion …

Archival Education In The Southeast: Auburn University, Joseph M. Turrini

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Regional Governance Institutions And Interlocal Cooperation For Service Delivery, Sung-Wook Kwon

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

Fragmentation of authority defines a first-order problem by creating economies of scale and positive and negative externalities in the provision of local public services. Resolving first-order problems leads to the second-order collective action problem of developing regional institutions that alter the first-order problem in a manner that improves joint outcomes. This paper investigates how regional councils of governments facilitate service cooperation by reducing transaction costs in interlocal service contracting. I focus on the role of the regional governance organizations, the characteristics of services, and political institutions while controlling for service markets and community characteristics. The results suggest that local governments …

Characterization And Structure Of A Zn2+ And [2fe-2s]-Containing Copper Chaperone From Archaeoglobus Fulgidus, Matthew H. Sazinsky, Benjamin Lemoine, Maria Orofino, Roman Davydov, Krisztina Z. Bencze, Timothy L. Stemmler, Brian M. Hoffman, José M. Argüello, Amy C. Rosenzweig

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Bacterial CopZ proteins deliver copper to P1B-type Cu+-ATPases that are homologous to the human Wilson and Menkes disease proteins. The genome of the hyperthermophile Archaeoglobus fulgidus encodes a putative CopZ copper chaperone that contains an unusual cysteine rich N-terminal domain of 130 amino acids in addition to a C-terminal copper-binding domain with a conserved CXXC motif. The N-terminal domain (CopZ-NT) is homologous to proteins found only in extremophiles and is the only such protein that is fused to a copper chaperone. Surprisingly, optical, electron paramagnetic resonance, and X-ray absorption spectroscopic data indicate the presence of a [2Fe-2S] cluster in CopZ-NT. …

Citizens For Peace Minutes 06-12-07, Linda J. Lieder

Citizens for Peace

Dr. Deepak Choprah's keynote address at the National Department of Peace Conference in Washington, D.C. in Feb. 2007.

He went on to say that it is impossible to solve all the world’s problems one at a time. Whatever is happening out there is a projection of what is happening in our collective souls. Today, there is a very deep distress in our collective consciousness. We need a shift in our collective consciousness in order to make real changes in the world.

• We need to evolve into a new way of being. In the history of humanity, there has always …

Citizens For Peace Minutes 07-10-07, Linda J. Lieder

Citizens for Peace

The topic for this evening was the Science of Peace, by James O’Day, who spoke at the Department of Peace Conference this past February, in Washington, D.C. He started his discussion with an explanation of the Art of War. He quoted Master Sung – “Without a full understanding of the harms of war it is impossible to manage it.” He went on to talk of the Sirens in the novel Ulysses, who were a loud distraction. Today, the Powers of War (media, 9/11. Alert codes, etc.) are all very loud now. These modern-day “Sirens” capture our attention and know how …

Reliability Of Concrete Masonry Unit Walls Subjected To Explosive Loads, Christopher D. Eamon

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research Publications

This study discuses the development of a procedure that can be used to assess the reliability of concrete masonry unit infill walls subjected to personnel-delivered blast loads. Consideration is given to maintain reasonable computational effort for both the structural analysis and reliability models. Blast load and wall resistance models are developed based on experimental and analytical data, and resistance is evaluated with a large strain, large displacement transient dynamic finite element analysis. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to identify significant random variables and a reliability analysis conducted with a feasible level of computational effort. Reliability indices are estimated for two …

Private Sector Influence In The International Telecommunication Union, Patricia K. Mccormick

Communication Faculty Research Publications

This paper aims to examine the influence of private corporations in the tripartite structure of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU): Telecommunications Standardization, Radiocommunication, and Telecommunications Development. The paper finds that, in the standardization sector, power has been effectively transferred from nation states to the private corporate sector since the approval process now enables standards to be approved by members of the study group that developed them, which is essentially the private sector. In the radiocommunication sector, the private sector continues to conduct much of the requisite technical work, but national governments are ultimately the decision makers and, further, it is …

Suboptimality Conditions For Mathematical Programs With Equilibrium Constraints, Truong Q. Bao, Panjak Gupta, Boris S. Mordukhovich

Mathematics Research Reports

In this paper we study mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints (MPECs) described by generalized equations in the extended form 0 is an element of the set G(x,y) + Q(x,y), where both mappings G and Q are set-valued. Such models arise, in particular, from certain optimization-related problems governed by variational inequalities and first-order optimality conditions in nondifferentiable programming. We establish new weak and strong suboptimality conditions for the general MPEC problems under consideration in finite-dimensional and infinite-dimensional spaces that do not assume the existence of optimal solutions. This issue is particularly important for infinite-dimensional optimization problems, where the existence of optimal …