Digital Commons Network^™

Activity Recognition Using Temporal Evidence Theory, Susan Mckeever, Juan Ye, Lorcan Coyle, Simon Dobson, Chris Bleakley

Articles

The ability to identify the behavior of people in a home is at the core of Smart Home functionality. Such environments are equipped with sensors that unobtrusively capture information about the occupants. Reasoning mechanisms transform the technical, frequently noisy data of sensors into meaningful interpretations of occupant activities. Time is a natural human way to reason about activities. Peoples‟ activities in the home often have an identifiable routine; activities take place at distinct times throughout the day and last for predicable lengths of time. However, the inclusion of temporal information is still limited in the domain of activity recognition. Evidence …

The Federal Rules Of Bankruptcy Procedure In Reorganization Cases: Do They Have A Constitutional Dimension?, David G. Carlson

Articles

The article examines the implications of the Supreme Court's decision in United Student Aid Funds, Inc. v. Espinosa, which significantly impacts bankruptcy law by establishing that due process in bankruptcy reorganization cases is governed by the minimalist standard set forth in Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. This ruling undermines the constitutional dimension of the Bankruptcy Rules, strengthens the finality of reorganization plans under res judicata, and affects the discharge of student loans without an adversary proceeding. The decision highlights the tension between due process rights of creditors and the finality of bankruptcy court rulings, while also reshaping …

A Functional Polymorphism In The Hmgcr Promoter Affects Transcriptional Activity But Not The Risk For Alzheimer Disease In Swedish Populations., Lina Keller, Charlotte Murphy, Steve Meaney

Articles

Variations in genes associated with cholesterol homeostasis have been reported to modify the risk of developing Alzheimer disease (AD). To date there have been few investigations into variations in genes directly involved in cholesterol biosynthesis and AD. We investigated the influence of the -911C>A polymorphism (rs3761740) in the hydroxy-methyl-glutaryl CoA reductase (HMGCR) gene promoter on basal and regulated transcription, plasma cholesterol levels and the association with AD. Under in vitro conditions the A allele was found to be significantly more responsive to SREBP-2 mediated regulation than the C allele. In an age and sex matched case-control study, the genotype …

Release Of Hmgb1 In Response To Pro-Apoptotic Glioma Killing Strategies: Efficacy And Neurotoxicity, Marianela Candolfi, Kader Yagiz, David Foulad, Gabrielle Alzadeh, Matthew Tesarfreund, Akm Ghulam Muhammad, Mariana Puntel, Kurt Kroeger, Chunyan Liu, Sharon Lee, James Curtin, Gwendalyn D. King, Jonathan Lerner, Katsuaki Sato, Yohei Mineharu, Weidong Xiong, Pedro R. Lowenstein, Maria Castro

Articles

Purpose In preparation for a Phase I clinical trial utilizing a combined cytotoxic/immunotherapeutic strategy using adenoviruses expressing Flt3L (Ad-Flt3L) and thymidine kinase (Ad-TK) to treat glioblastoma (GBM), we tested the hypothesis that Ad-TK+GCV would be the optimal tumor killing agent in relation to efficacy and safety when compared to other pro-apoptotic approaches. Experimental Design and Results The efficacy and neurotoxicity of Ad-TK+GCV was compared with Ads encoding the pro-apoptotic cytokines (TNF-α, TRAIL, FasL), alone or in combination with Ad-Flt3L. In rats bearing small GBMs (day 4), only Ad-TK+GCV or Ad-FasL improved survival. In rats bearing large GBMs (day 9), the …

Procedural Barriers To Civil Rights Litigation And The Illusory Promise Of Equity, Alexander A. Reinert

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No abstract provided.

The Empty Tomb: Post-Critical Legal Hermeneutics, Peter Goodrich

Articles

The article argues that the decline of critical legal studies (CLS) stems not only from external challenges like tenure wars but also from internal weaknesses, particularly an affective incapacity and failure of collective desire. To revitalize CLS, the article proposes a return to its original mission of social transformation, emphasizing the spiritual and ethical dimensions of legal understanding. It draws on hermeneutics and art history to explore how legal symbols and images shape power dynamics, advocating for a deeper engagement with the invisible, non-law forces that guide legal administration.

Grade Inflation In The School Of Real Estate And Construction Economics, Dermot Kehily

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No abstract provided.

When Is An Alternative Forum Available - Rethinking The Forum Non Conveniens Analysis, Joel H. Samuels

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No abstract provided.

The Hydra, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

Almost nobody favors long consent forms for prospective research subjects. Almost everybody thinks they interfere with informed consent's purpose-good decisions. Nevertheless, almost everybody believes consent forms have long been getting longer. Years ago, Paul Appelbaum lamented the "tendency to cram ever more information into consent forms." Weeks ago, Ilene Albala and her colleagues (one of them Appelbaum) reported in IRE: Ethics & Human Research that the length of one institutional review board's forms "increased roughly linearly by an average of 1.5 pages per decade. In the 1970s, the average consent form was less than one page long and often only …

Rapid Multi-Class Multi-Residue Method For The Confirmation Of Chloramphenicol And Eleven Nitroimidazoles In Milk And Honey By Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Mark Cronly, Patrice Behan, Barry Foley, Liam Regan, Sheila Martin, Michael Doyle, Edward Malone

Articles

A confirmatory method has been developed to allow for the analysis of eleven nitroimidazoles and also chloramphenicol in milk and honey samples. These compounds are classified as A6 compounds in annex IV of council regulation 2377/90 and therefore prohibited for the use in animal husbandry. Milk samples are extracted by acetonitrile with addition of NaCl, while honey samples are first dissolved in water before a similar extraction. Honey extracts undergo a hexane wash to remove impurities. Both milk and honey extracts are evaporated to dryness and reconstituted in initial mobile phase. These are then injected onto an LC-MS/MS system and …

A Systematic Study Of The Effect Of Silver On The Chelation Of Formic Acid To A Titanium Precursor And The Resulting Effect On The Anatase To Rutile Transformation Of Tio2, Nicholas Nolan, Michael Seery, Steve Hinder, Linda Healy, Suresh Pillai

Articles

Anatase to rutile transition in an unmodified synthetic titania usually occurs at a temperature range of 600 – 700 °C. Various methods such as addition of metallic and non-metallic dopants and modifying the precursor have previously been reported to influence the anatase to rutile transition temperature. In the current study, the effect of addition of increasing amounts of silver to the extent of chelation of a formate group to a titanium precursor and the resulting effects on the transformation of anatase to rutile has been studied. The addition of silver (0, 1, 3 and 5 mol %) on the anatase …

Computer Simulation Of A Biomass Gasification-Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Power System Using Aspen Plus, Wayne Doherty, Anthony Reynolds, David Kennedy

Articles

The operation and performance of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack on biomass syn-gas from a biomass gasification combined heat and power (CHP) plant is investigated. The objective of this work is to develop a model of a biomass-SOFC system capable of predicting performance under diverse operating conditions. The tubular SOFC technology is selected. The SOFC stack model, equilibrium type based on Gibbs free energy minimisation, is developed using Aspen Plus. The model performs heat and mass balances and considers ohmic, activation and concentration losses for the voltage calculation. The model is validated against data available in the literature …

A Full-Range, Multi-Variable, Cfd-Based Methodology To Identify Abnormal Near-Wall Hemodynamics In A Stented Coronary Artery, Jonathan Murphy, Fergal Boyle

Articles

The benefit of coronary stent implantation is reduced by excessive intimal hyperplasia which re-narrows the artery and the prevention of which is still a primary concern for clinicians. Abnormal hemodynamics create non-physiological viscous stress on the artery wall, one of the root causes of intimal hyperplasia following stent implantation. A methodology to comprehensively evaluate the viscous stress on the artery wall following stent implantation would be useful to evaluate a stent’s hemodynamic performance. The proposed methodology employs 3D computational fluid dynamics, the variables wall shear stress (WSS), WSS gradient (WSSG), WSS angle gradient (WSSAG) and a statistical analysis to evaluate …

The Relevance Of Teaching Traditional Measurement Techniques To Undergraduate Quantity Surveying Students., Fiacra P. Mcdonnell

Articles

Measurement of quantities is a core skill which must be inherent in all graduates from Quantity Surveying courses. Many students find this subject difficult to grasp, and the learning experience can be problematic especially in the first semester of first year. This is not unique to measurement as in many cases first year students are in the process of adapting to a new stage in their life, along with attempting to master many new subjects (Cottrell, 2008). This is reinforced by Johnston (2010) who highlights the many challenges being experienced by first year students and observes that “ entering first …

Letter By Harris Et Al Regarding Article, "Outcomes Of Patients With Acute Type A Aortic Intramural Hematoma, Jamie M. Pelzel

Articles

We read with interest the report by Song et al1 outlining the management of ascending aortic intramural hematoma (IMH) at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea. This series, the largest of this life-threatening condition, demonstrated that at that institution, 84% of patients (n=85) could be treated with initial medical therapy, resulting in a mortality rate of 7.1%. These results are impressive but are observational rather than a randomized comparison of medical and surgical therapy.

Judicial Review, A Comparative Perspective: Israel, Canada, And The United States, Richard A. Posner

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No abstract provided.

Aba Criminal Justice Standards On The Treatment Of Prisoners, Margo Schlanger, Margaret C. Love, Carl Reynolds

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or more than i O years, corrections professionals and others concerned about the treatment of prisoners have despaired over conditions in California's prisons. Crowding, violence, racial segregation, abysmal medical care, an obstructionist corrections union. and a state budget crisis have combined to bring the system to the point of constitutional meltdov,n. In 2008. a state appellate court found conditions of "'extreme peril to the safety of persons and property,'' and a three-judge federal court confirmed the existence of a "substantial risk to the health and safety of the men and women who work inside these prisons and the inmates housed …

The Inevitability Of Theory, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

I wrote this Article in response to an invitation to deliver the keynote address at Berkeley Law School’s Jurisprudence and Social Policy conference Building Theory Through Empirical Legal Studies. Lauren Edelman, the intellectual mother of the conference, gently brushed aside my suggestion that I present one of my own attempts to synthesize the results of empirical research to generate theory, and asked that I directly address the conference topic. I am glad that she did.

In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity And Mechanism Of Action Of Novel Carbohydrate Fatty Acid Derivatives Against Staphylococcus Aureus And Mrsa, Paula Bourke, Patricia Nobmann, Julie Dunne, Gary Henehan

Articles

Aims: This study investigates the antimicrobial activity and mode of action of novel carbohydrate fatty acid (CFA) derivatives against Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staph. aureus (MRSA).

Methods and Results: Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and the effect of CFA derivatives on lag phase were determined using a broth microdilution method. Lauric acid carbohydrate esters and corresponding ether analogs showed the greatest antimicrobial activity with MIC values between 0.04 to 0.16mmol l^-1. Leakage studies at 260nm following exposure to CFA derivatives at 4X MIC showed a significant increase in membrane permeability for all compounds, after ca. 15 minutes exposure except …

Development Of A 12 Kva Dsp-Controlled Laboratory Prototype Upqc, Iurie Axente, Jayanti Navilgone Ganesh, Malabika Basu, Michael Conlon, Kevin Gaughan

Articles

This paper reports the development of a laboratory prototype of a fully digital DSP-controlled 12-kVA unified power quality conditioner (UPQC), capable of compensating for both the supply voltage and the load current imperfections. A fully digital controller based on the TMS320F2812 DSP platform is implemented for the reference generation as well as control purposes. The delay problem in the digital controller is overcome by application of a fast DSP, a compact control technique and proper flow of control steps in the DSP software. A phase-locked loopless software grid synchronization method has been implemented for the effective operation of the UPQC …

How Piracy Has Shaped The Relationship Between American Law And International Law, Joel H. Samuels

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No abstract provided.

You Deserve Access To Research, David H. Carlson

Articles

An Op Ed piece in the Carbondale (IL) daily newspaper. An overview of FRPAA, the Federal Research Public Access Act, is given. Arguments are made for the legislation and support by the public.

Rainwater Harvesting And Greywater Treatment Systems For Domestic Application In Ireland, Zhe Li, Fergal Boyle, Anthony Reynolds

Articles

Water shortage has been recognised as one of the key issues facing many countries. Fortunately, there are relatively abundant water resources available in Ireland because of its plenty of rainfall. However, Ireland will inevitably encounter water shortage in the future, especially in urban areas. The water consumption per capita per day in Ireland is one of the highest in Europe. The water demand is still increasing due to population growth and higher standard of living. The use of domestic rainwater harvesting and greywater treatment systems has the potential to supply nearly 94% of domestic water in Irish households. The utilisation …

Simulation Of A Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack Operating On Biomass Syngas Using Aspen Plus, Wayne Doherty, Anthony Reynolds, David Kennedy

Articles

A tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack was modelled and its operation on biomass syn-gas was investigated. The objective of this work was to develop a computer simulation model of a biomass gasification-SOFC (BG-SOFC) system capable of predicting performance under various operating conditions and using diverse fuels. The stack was modelled using Aspen Plus and considers ohmic, activation and concentration losses. It was validated against published data for operation on natural gas. Operating parameters such as fuel and air utilisation factor U_f and U_a, current density j and steam to carbon ratio STCR were varied and …

The Case Against Taxing Citizens, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Articles

The bipartisan tax reform bill recently introduced by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., proposes to abolish IRC section 911. That section, which exempts U.S. citizens living overseas from tax on the first $80,000 of earned income, is indeed anomalous in the context of a tax on all income "from whatever source derived," and has been subjected to criticism. However, there is a reason section 911 has been in the code since the 1920s: In its absence, citizenship-based taxation becomes completely unadministrable. Rather than continuing the long argument over section 911, Congress should therefore reexamine the basic premise: …

The Authority For Federalism: Madison's Negative And The Origins Of Federal Ideology, Alison Lacroix

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No abstract provided.

The Institutional Dynamics Of Transition Relief, Jonathan Masur, Jonathan Remy Nash

Articles

Whether and how to provide transition relief from a change in legal regime is a question of critical importance. Legislatures and agencies effect changes to the law constantly, and affected private actors often seek relief from those changes, at least in the short term. Scholarship on transition relief therefore has focused almost entirely on examining when transition relief might be justified and now recognizes that there may be settings where relief from legal transitions is appropriate. Yet largely absent from these treatments is an answer to the question of which institutional actor is best positioned to decide when legal transition …

Highly Visible Light Active Tio2-Xnx Heterojunction Photocatalysts, Vinodkumar Etacheri, Michael Seery, Steven Hinder, Suresh Pillai

Articles

Nitrogen doped anatase-rutile heterojunctions are successfully synthesized through an ethylene-diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) modified sol-gel process.An FT-IR study of EDTA modified TiO2 gel confirms the existence of an ionic intermediate (as indicated by a Δν value of 233 cm-1).Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy are employed to study the phase evolution, phase purity, and crystallite size of samples. Formations of O-Ti-N and N-Ti-N bonds in calcined samples are confirmed using XPS and FT-IR spectro- scopy. AllEDTAmodified samples show significantly higher visible light photocatalytic activity than the unmodified sample. The most active nitrogen doped heterojunction obtained at 400C …

Modification Of Water Application Uniformity Among Closed Circuit Trickle Irrigation Systems, Hani A.-G. Mansour, Mohamed Yousif Tayel, Mohamed A. Abd El-Hady, David A. Lightfoot, Abdel-Ghany Mohamed El-Gindy

Articles

The aim of this research was determine the ma- ximum application uniformity of closed circuit trickle irrigation systems designs. Laboratory tests carried out for Two types of closed circuits: a) One manifold for lateral lines or Closed cir-cuits with One Manifold of Trikle Irrigation Sys-tem (COMTIS); b) Closed circuits with Two Manifolds of Trikle Irrigation System (CTMTIS), and c) Traditional Trikle Irrigation System (TTIS) as a control. Three lengths of lateral lines were used, 40, 60, and 80 meters. PE tubes lateral lines: 16 mm diameter; 30 cm emitters distance, and GR built-in emitters 4 lph when operating pressure 1 …

The “Licentiousness” In Religious Organizations And Why It Is Not Protected Under Religious Liberty Constitutional Provisions, Marci A. Hamilton

Articles

No abstract provided.