Digital Commons Network^™

Valuing Laws As Local Amenities, Anup Malani

Articles

The conventional approach to evaluating a law is to examine its effect on proximate behavior. To evaluate a new criminal law, for example, the conventional approach would look to changes in the crime rate. This Article proposes another method for evaluating laws, specifically, that they should be judged by the extent to which they raise housing prices and lower wages in the short run or raise the aggregate value of residential land in the long run. The logic is that the value of a law, much like the value of a lake or a public school, is capitalized into local …

Turning The Gene Tap Off; Implications Of Regulating Gene Expression For Cancer Therapeutics, James Curtin, Marianela Candolfi, Weidong Xiong, Pedro Lowenstein, Maria Castro

Articles

Cancer poses a tremendous therapeutic challenge worldwide, highlighting the critical need for developing novel therapeutics. A promising cancer treatment modality is gene therapy, which is a form of molecular medicine designed to introduce into target cells genetic material with therapeutic intent. Anticancer gene therapy strategies currently used in preclinical models, and in some cases in the clinic, include proapoptotic genes, oncolytic/replicative vectors, conditional cytotoxic approaches, inhibition of angiogenesis, inhibition of growth factor signaling, inactivation of oncogenes, inhibition of tumor invasion and stimulation of the immune system. The translation of these novel therapeutic modalities from the preclinical setting to the clinic …

Jurisdictions And Causes Of Action: Commercial Considerations In Dealing With Bullying, Stress And Harassment Cases-Part Ii, Niall Neligan

Articles

In the concluding part of this two part article, the author will
examine how the courts have developed rules for dealing with
tortious claims for psychiatric injuries arising out of bullying, stress
and harassment cases. The article will examine whether it is
desirable to consolidate and codify employment rights law in order
to provide clarity to prospective litigants. Finally, the author will
argue that if codification is required, then this will necessitate a
change in the nature of present jurisdictions for bringing claims
involving bullying, stress and harassment in the workplace.

Further Insight Into Gravitational Recoil, Carlos O. Lousto, Yosef Zlochower

Articles

We test the accuracy of our recently proposed empirical formula to model the recoil velocity imparted to the merger remnant of spinning, unequal-mass black-hole binaries. We study three families of black-hole binary configurations, all with mass ratio q=3/8 (to maximize the unequal-mass contribution to the kick) and spins aligned (or counter aligned) with the orbital angular momentum, two with spin configurations chosen to minimize the spin-induced tangential and radial accelerations of the trajectories respectively, and a third family where the trajectories are significantly altered by spin-orbit coupling. We find good agreement between the measured and predicted recoil velocities for the …

Waveguide Fabrication In Uv-Photocurable Sol–Gel Materials: Influence Of The Photoinitiating System, D.L. Versace, Mohamed Oubaha, R. Copperwhite, C. Croutxé-Barghorn, B.D. Maccraith

Articles

In this paper we identify and explain the different chemical interactions involved between a sol–gel matrix and photoinitiators used in the fabrication of optical waveguides. A well-established sol–gel matrix composed of 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, zirconium n-propoxide and methacrylic acid was developed, and two different photoinitiators (Irgacure® 819 and 1800) were added to the host matrix. Optical microscopy was used to characterise the structure of the waveguides as a function of the photoinitiator nature and concentration, and aging of the hybrid sol–gel material. It is clearly demonstrated that the width of the waveguides is strongly influenced by the sol aging. Furthermore, it is …

On The Onset Of Runaway Stellar Collisions In Dense Star Clusters - I. Dynamics Of The First Collision, Evghenii Gaburov, Alessia Gualandris, Simon P. Zwart

Articles

We study the circumstances under which first collisions occur in young and dense star clusters. The initial conditions for our direct N-body simulations are chosen such that the clusters experience core collapse within a few million years, before the most massive stars have left the main-sequence. It turns out that the first collision is typically driven by the most massive stars in the cluster. Upon arrival in the cluster core, by dynamical friction, massive stars tend to form binaries. The enhanced cross section of the binary compared to a single star causes other stars to engage the binary. A collision …

Plane Decompositions As Tools For Approximation, Melanie J. Agnew, Christopher M. Homan

Articles

Tree decompositions were developed by Robertson and Seymour [21]. Since then algorithms have been developed to solve intractable problems efficiently for graphs of bounded tree width. In this paper we extend tree decompositions to allow cycles to exist in the decomposition graph; we call these new decompositions plane decompositions because we require that the decomposition graph be planar. First, we give some background material about tree decompositions and an overview of algorithms both for decompositions and for approximations of planar graphs. Then, we give our plane decomposition definition and an algorithm that uses this decomposition to approximate the size of …

Finding Hidden Treasures In Special Collections, Stacy Etheredge

Articles

No abstract provided.

Interacting Jets From Binary Protostars, Gareth Murphy, Thibaut Lery, Stephen O'Sullivan, Daniel S. Spicer, Francesca Bacciotti, Alex Rosen

Articles

Aims. We investigate potential models that could explain why multiple proto-stellar systems predominantly show single jets. During their formation, stars most frequently produce energetic outflows and jets. However, binary jets have only been observed in a very small number of systems. Methods. We model numerically 3D binary jets for various outflow parameters. We also model the propagation of jets from a specific source, namely L1551 IRS 5, known to have two jets, using recent observations as constraints for simulations with a new MHD code. We examine their morphology and dynamics, and produce synthetic emission maps. Results. We find that the …

Macroeconomic Policy Change: Ireland In Comparative Perspective, John Hogan

Articles

This paper sets out to develop an improved framework for examining critical junctures. This a priori framework is a significant improvement over existing critical juncture frameworks that lack any predictive element. It is an advance for historical institutionalism in particular, and political science in general. After the new framework is set out in detail here, it is tested. The framework is used to examine a number of potential critical junctures in macroeconomic policy, drawn from Ireland, Sweden, Britain, and America in the latter half of the twentieth century

Condemnation Without Justification, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

On August 6-8, 2007, Prof. Neil Buchanan posted in Michael Dorf’s blog (http://michaeldorf.org/; for the blog entry regarding the death tax, see http:// michaeldorf.org/2007/08/dishonest-tax-rhetoric-part-3- of-3.html) a three-part series on what he deemed to be examples of political use of terminology to describe tax issues in a manner that is likely to mislead the public. Prof. Buchanan described this practice as ‘‘dishonest tax rhetoric.’’ He awarded first, second, and third prizes for the most egregious examples of dishonest rhetoric. I, however, found no objection to the usages he considered to be the two worst examples. Let us consider his first and …

A Visual Indication Of Environmental Humidity Using A Colour Changing Hologram Recorded In A Self-Developing Photopolymer, Izabela Naydenova, Raghavendra Jallapuram, Vincent Toal, Suzanne Martin

Articles

A reflection hologram for visual indication of environmental humidity has been studied. The hologram is recorded in a self-developing photopolymer and changes colour when exposed to a change in humidity and is fully reversible. The range of colour change, reversibility and the response time of the hologram have been studied in a controlled humidity environment. Fully reversible holograms with response times from few seconds to tens of minutes have been designed. Extremely sensitive bright visual humidity indicators, capable of dramatic colour change within a few seconds of breathing on them are demonstrated.

Foundations Of Multiple Black Hole Evolutions, Carlos O. Lousto, Yosef Zlochower

Articles

We present techniques for long-term, stable, and accurate evolutions of multiple-black-hole spacetimes using the ‘moving puncture’ approach with fourth- and eighth-order finite difference stencils. We use these techniques to explore configurations of three black holes in a hierarchical system consisting of a third black hole approaching a quasi-circular black-hole binary, and find that, depending on the size of the binary, the resulting encounter may lead to a prompt merger of all three black holes, production of a highly elliptical binary (with the third black hole remaining unbound), or disruption of the binary (leading to three free black holes). We also …

An Fio Calculus For Marine Seismic Imaging: Folds And Cross Caps, Raluca Felea, Allan Greenleaf

Articles

We consider a linearized inverse problem, arising in offshore seismic exploration, for an isotropic wave equation with sound speed assumed to be a small, singular perturbation of a smooth background. Under an assumption of at most fold caustics for the background, we identify the geometry of the canonical relation underlying the linearization, F, which is a Fourier integral operator, and establish a composition calculus sufficient to describe the normal operator F^*F. The resulting artifacts are 1/2 derivative smoother than in the case of a single-source seismic experiment. Refer to PDF file for exact formula.)

Review And Analysis Of An Energy Efficiency Incentive Program For Commercial Buildings, James A. Mathias, Justin M. Harrell, Marian Tetzlaff

Articles

A program with 13 participants provided reimbursement for improvements to decrease energy use largely in commercial and not-for-profit buildings but also in two government buildings. Electricity and natural gas savings were determined by modeling the energy use by accounting for changes in weather for the 12 months previous to the improvements, and then predicting energy use for the 12 months immediately after the improvements using the same model.

The threshold for verifiable energy savings resulting from building improvements was a maximum uncertainty of 50% at the 68% confidence level. Improvements involving original furnace or air conditioner replacement resulted in significant …

Exploring An Inverted U-Shaped Relationship Between Entrepreneurial Orientation And Performance In Chinese Ventures, Jintong Tang, Zhi Tang, Louis Marino

Articles

The critical role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in firm performance has been widely studied in the U.S. context. However, the examination of this key construct in emerging regions such as China has been very limited. In this article, we hypothesize that the relationship between EO and firm performance is best represented as curvilinear, as opposed to linear, in China. We use a two-study approach to test the link between EO and performance, as expressed in both perceptual and objective performance. Findings of both studies demonstrate an inverted U-shape relationship. Implications for future research on EO are discussed.

Entrepreneurial Network Development: Trusting In The Process, Delmonize Smith, Franz Lohrke

Articles

An entrepreneur's network can provide a significant source of social capital, which, in turn may increase a new venture's likelihood of success. Entrepreneurship research has frequently examined how such networks develop, and reviewing extant studies suggests that trust plays a significant role in this process. Despite its recognized importance, limited research exists examining how trust evolves during and interacts with the entrepreneur's venture network development. Accordingly, we propose that an entrepreneur's reliance on exchange relationships based on model's implications and future research avenues.

A Case For A Parallelizable Hash, Alan Kaminsky, Stanisław Radziszowski

Articles

On November 2, 2007, NIST (United States National Institute of Standards and Technology) announced an initiative to design a new secure hash function for this century, to be called SHA-3. The competition will be open and it is planned to conclude in 2012. These developments are quite similar to the recent history of symmetric block ciphers— breaking of the DES (Data Encryption Standard) and emergence of the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) in 2001 as the winner of a multi year NIST competition. In this paper we make a case that parallelizability should be one of the properties sought in the …

Throttle Icing: Understanding The Icing Mechanism And Effects Of Various Throttle Features, Julie M. Galante-Fox, Donald E. Jarvis, Robert D. Garrick

Articles

Some Electronic Throttle Control (ETC) Air Control Valves (ACV) on automotive internal combustion engines are susceptible to icing of the throttle valve. Ice formation can result in an increase in torque required to open or close the valve. Laboratory studies were conducted to improve the understanding of throttle valve icing on electronic throttle control valves with both aluminum and composite (plastic) bodies over various bore sizes (4 cylinder to 8 cylinder engines). Study results indicated that ice compression at the bore and valve gap, not ice adhesion, is the major contributor to the ETC-ACV icing phenomenon. In addition, testing of …

Assessing Energy, Environmental, And Economic Tradeoffs In Intermodal Freight Transportation, James Winebrake, James Corbett, Aaron Falzarano

Articles

This paper presents an energy and environmental network analysis model to explore tradeoffs associated with freight transport. The geospatial model uses an intermodal network built by the authors to connect various modes (rail, road, water) via intermodal terminals. Routes along the network are characterized not only by temporal and distance attributes, but also by cost, energy, and emissions attributes (including emissions of carbon dioxide, particulate matter, sulfur oxides, volatile organic compounds, and oxides of nitrogen). Decision-makers can use the model to explore tradeoffs among alternative route selection across different modal combinations, and to identify optimal routes for objectives that feature …

The M. - Σ* Project, Daniel Batcheldor

Articles

Originally published in the Memorie della Società Astronomica Italiana (The Journal of the Italian Astronomical Society. There is an intimate link between supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass (M•) and the stellar velocity dispersion (σ*) of the host bulge. This has a fundamental impact on our understanding of galaxy and SMBH formation and evolution. However, the scatter, slope and zero-point of the relation is a subject of some debate. For any progress to be made on this relation, the established values of M• and σ* must be robust. Over 50% of current M• estimates have been made using the technique of …

Emissions Tradeoffs Among Alternative Marine Fuels: Total Fuel Cycle Analysis Of Residual Oil, Marine Gas Oil, And Marine Diesel Oil, James Corbett, James Winebrake

Articles

Worldwide concerns about sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions from ships are motivating the replacement of marine residual oil (RO) with cleaner, lower-sulfur fuels, such as marine gas oil (MGO) and marine diesel oil (MDO). Vessel operators can use MGO and MDO directly or blended with RO to achieve environmental and economic objectives. Although expected to be much cleaner in terms of criteria pollutants, these fuels require additional energy in the upstream stages of the fuel cycle (i.e., fuel processing and refining), and thus raise questions about the net impacts on greenhouse gas emissions (primarily carbon dioxide [CO2]) because of production and …

Nanotechnology In Education: Top-Down And Bottom-Up Approach, Davide Mariotti, Micheal Jackson, Elaine Lewis

Articles

Innovative ideas and approaches for integrating nanotechnology in education are introduced and discussed. Global information and ease of access to scientific information has been considered, as one ofthe factors that may be affecting the way nanotechnology should be introduced in scholarly curricula. Two grand designs have been identified: the first relies on the redistribution of nanotechnology concepts among the existing courses/disciplines and the second promotes nanotechnology as a stand-alone discipline. Overall, it is discussed that whatever curriculum design is chosen, education of high-tech subjects has to combine a top-down with a bottom-up approach. The first serves to convey industry needs …

A High-Strehl Low-Resoultion Optical Imager (Bessel): Detection Of A 0.7(Lambda)/D Separation Binary For Mte Ground, Mary Anne Peters, Laird Close, Matt Rademacher

Articles

We have constructed a high-speed image stabilization system, BESSEL, which mounts to the 8-in. refractive telescope coupled to the ray white telescope at steward observatory. The high-speed tip/tilt mirror platform is controlled by an Andor electron multiplication EMCCD enabling wavefront correction at a rate exceeding 1 kHz. BESSEL achieves on-sky Strehl ratios of 98–99% at lambda) = 800 nm when the telescope aperture is stopped down to half the Fried parameter (typically D = 25.4 mm, where D is the diameter of the effective telescope aperture). Utilizing high Strehls and the technique of roll subtraction enabled BESSEL to resolve the …

Accounting Information Systems: A Business Process, Second Edition, M. Pamela Neely

Articles

Enabled by Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, today's businesses are moving away from a functional approach, toward an integrated approach to managing transactions. This approach requires the accountant to understand the flow of transactions through the entire business process, from order-to-cash or purchase-to-pay. These business processes are reflective of a business strategy and are supported by Accounting Information Systems (AIS) that require the management of Information Technology (IT).

Mechanism Analysis Using Implicit Constraints, George Sutherland

Articles

This paper introduces an approach to kinematic and dynamic mechanisms analysis where one or more joints are modeled using joint component relative displacements that approximate real joint behavior. This approach allows for the simultaneous nonrecursive solution for both mechanism kinematic parameters and selected dynamic joint reaction forces. Also, for closed loop mechanisms, the approach eliminates the need for forming explicit loop closure constraint equations, so that the dynamic equations of motion (derived using either the Newtonian or Lagrangian method) have a simplified unconstrained form. The key element underlying the approach is the formation of axioms (for the standard mechanism joint …

Is The State Endorsement Of Any Marriage Justifiable? Same-Sex Marriage, Civil Unions, And The Marriage Privatization Model, Lawrence Torcello

Articles

Public Affairs Quarterly is distributed by the University of Illinois Press. http://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/paq.html

Consumer Perceptions Of Business-To-Consumer Relationships In Electronic Retail Environments: A Means-End Chain Approach, Ryan Kearns, Neil Hair

Articles

This work examines the perceptions of consumers' relationships with commercial organization in electronic environments. Perceptions of a range of common electric business to consumer Internet retailers were examined using personal construct theory operationalized by means-end chain analysis. These approaches have a long tradition of being used to identify personally meaningful constructs by tracing the common attributes of their online experience with their consequences and ultimately the personal values that they pertain to. The study reveals 8 major themes that conceptualize consumers' perceptual orientations of their relationships with online retailers: personalization, engagement and experience, convenience, design/ease of use, trustworthiness, ability to …

Printing Industry Off Shoring: Perspectives From Us Based Printers, Sandra Rothenberg, Ron Hira, Zhi Tang

Articles

Offshoring and offshore outsourcing, the movement of work and tasks to low-cost countries, has been increasing in scale and scope. While offshoring in the manufacturing sector has been an ongoing phenomenon for more than 40 years, more recently, examples of offshoring in services industries such as software programming, once considered non-tradable and therefore to offshoring, have emerged. The concurrent effects of the recent very rapid growth of the Indian and Chinese economies at eight to ten per cent per annum (about four times the rate of developed countries), and dramatically lower cross-border transaction costs have led many to predict significant …

Rationalization, Overcompensation And The Escalation Of Corruption In Organizations, Stelios Zyglidopoulos, Peter Fleming, Sandra Rothenberg

Articles

An important area of business ethics research focuses on how otherwise normal and law-abiding individuals can engage in acts of corruption. Key in this literature is the concept of rationalization. This is where individuals attempt to justify past and future corrupt deeds to themselves and others. In this article, we argue that rationalization often entails a process of overcompensation whereby the justification forwarded is excessive in relation to the actual act. Such over-rationalization provides an impetus for further and more serious acts of illegality. Using a number of high profile cases, it is argued that this dynamic gap between the …