Digital Commons Network^™

Emerging From Engineering Education – Building A Remotely Operated Submarine, Hong Zhang, Bernard Pietrucha, John Chen

Mechanical Engineering

In spring 2004, the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Rowan University offered a new course called “Emerging Topic – Designing and Building a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)”. It is a project-based course where students are required to design, build and operate a submersible with provided materials. This course integrated many engineering aspects into one project and also exposed mechanical engineering students to Mechatronics. The course was welcomed by students and the response from them was quite positive.

Development Of A Flying Eye: A Project-Based Learning Experience, Sema E. Alptekin, Dianne Deturris, Daniel J. Macy, Jon E. Ervin

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The paper describes the design for manufacturability of a prototype product as part of a manufacturing engineering capstone course. The product chosen was a vertically launched unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)—the “Flying Eye.” The Flying Eye is an autonomous parafoil surveillance platform quipped with sensors, controllers, mechanical components, and software. Once the autonomous UAV is deployed, it is designed to follow a predetermined flight path down to the ground. The design effort of the prototype device took place over a three-year period as a collaborative effort between the Aerospace Engineering and Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering departments at California Polytechnic State University. …

A Vos Souhaits !, Brett B. Bodemer

Library Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Eros Le Héros, Brett B. Bodemer

Library Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Le Testament, Brett B. Bodemer

Library Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Si Alza, Brett B. Bodemer

Library Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Constitutionalization, Girardeau A. Spann

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Students of constitutional law tend to suspect pretty early on that the Constitution simply means whatever the Supreme Court says that it means. Rather than fight that intuition, I think it is best to treat the student insight as one of the basic starting assumptions when teaching a course in Constitutional Law. The goal then becomes to help students figure out how best to maneuver and feel comfortable in a legal universe where the Constitution has only contingent meaning.

What the Supreme Court does when it clothes its political policy preferences in the garb of constitutional law can be described …

Telling Stories And Keeping Secrets, Abbe Smith

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Nothing is better than a good story. You don't need to be a trial lawyer to know this, but you wouldn't be a very good trial lawyer if you didn't. There is a reason trial lawyers are favored dinner party guests: if the food is a flop, the energy level low, and the people in attendance do not have much in common, there will at least be a good story for entertainment. Good trial lawyers have the gift of gab and a bounty of endless material.

Criminal trial lawyers have it even better. They don't just recount tales involving conflict …

Direct Vs. Indirect Obligations Of Corporations Under International Law, Carlos Manuel Vázquez

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

International law today addresses the conduct of private corporations in a variety of areas. With very few exceptions, however, international law regulates corporate conduct indirectly--that is, by requiring states to enact and enforce regulations applicable to corporations and other non-state actors. Only a small number of international legal norms--primarily those relating to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and forced labor--apply directly to non-state actors. Scholars have argued forcefully that international law should move in the direction of directly imposing obligations on corporations. These arguments overlook important aspects of the problem. If international legal norms were extended to corporations and backed …

Gay Is Good: The Moral Case For Marriage Equality And More, Chai R. Feldblum

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The struggle for marriage equality in this country is ripe for an intervention. If the effort continues along in the manner in which it has been headed, gay couples may or may not succeed in gaining access to civil marriage. But even if gay couples succeed in "getting marriage," the gay rights movement may have missed a critical opportunity-a chance to make a positive moral case for gay sex and gay couples. In other words, it will have missed the opportunity to argue that "gay is good."

Moreover, to the extent that the struggle for marriage equality focuses solely on …

The Place Of The User In Copyright Law, Julie E. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Copyright doctrine . . . is characterized by the absence of the user. As copyright moves into the digital age, this absence has begun to matter profoundly. As I will show, the absence of the user has consequences that reach far beyond debates about the legality of private copying, or about the proper scope of user-oriented exemptions such as the fair use and first sale doctrines. The user's absence produces a domino effect that ripples through the structure of copyright law, shaping both its unquestioned rules and its thorniest dilemmas. The resulting imbalance - empty space where one cornerstone of …

Squaring The Circle? Reconciling Sovereignty And Global Governance Through Global Government Networks (Review Of Anne-Marie Slaughter, A New World Order), Kenneth Anderson

Book Reviews

This book review summarizes and critiques A New World Order, offering both an internal critique of the argument's consistency as well as an outside critique of the argument from the standpoint of the value of democratic sovereignty. The review locates Slaughter's argument within the debate over international relations realism and idealism, and further locates it within a continuum of seven idealized positions in the debate between global governance and sovereignty, with pure sovereignty at one extreme and world government at the other, with the most relevant positions of democratic sovereignty and liberal internationalism located in the middle. The article concludes …

Neoclassicism, Artificial Intelligence, And The Marginalization Of Ethics, John B. Davis

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose – The paper examines the dependence of the positivist and welfarist preference satisfaction paradigm of neoclassical economics upon an implicit functionalist philosophy of mind. Functionalism is the doctrine that mental states are strictly materialistic and understandable in cause-effect terms. An important aspect of functionalism is the multiple realizability thesis, namely, that mental states can be realized in any type of hardware, whether human brain or computer.

Design/methodology/approach – The approach used involves investigating the fact-value distinction after Robbins in terms of the positivist meta-ethical view known as emotivism, and then explaining emotivism as inherently functionalist. Functionalist thinking itself is …

Penzoil V. Texaco, Twenty Years After: Lessons For Business Lawyers, Robert M. Lloyd

Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law

No abstract provided.

Drum Source Separation Using Percussive Feature Detection And Spectral Modulation, Dan Barry, Derry Fitzgerald, Eugene Coyle, Robert Lawlor

Conference papers

This papers presents a method for the separation and resynthesis of drum sources from single channel polyphonic mixtures. The frequency domain technique involves identifying the presence of a drum using a novel percussive feature detection function, after which the short-time magniture spectrum is estimated and scaled according to an estimated time-amplitude function derived from the percussive measure. In addition to producing high quality separation results, the method described is also a useful pre-process for drum transcription techniques such as Prior Subspace Analysis in the presence of pitched instruments.

Comparison Of Signal Reconstruction Methods For The Azimuth Discrimination And Resynthesis Algorithm, Dan Barry, Robert Lawlor, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

The Azimuth Discrimination and Resynthesis algorithm (ADRess) has been shown to produce high quality sound source separation results for intensity panned stereo recordings. There are however, artifacts such as phasiness which become apparent in the separated signals under certain conditions. This is largely due to the fact that only the magnitude spectra for the separated sources are estimated. Each source is then resynthesised using the phase information obtained from the original mixture. This paper describes the nature and origin of the associated artifacts and proposes alternative techniques for resynthesising the separated signals. A comparison of each technque is then presented.

Audio Time-Scale Modification Using A Hybrid Time-Frequency Domain Approach, David Dorran, Eugene Coyle, Robert Lawlor

Conference papers

Frequency-domain approaches to audio time-scale modification introduce a reverberant artefact into the time-scaled output due to a loss in phase coherence between subband components. Whilst techniques have been developed which reduce the presence of this artifact, it remains a source of difficulty. A method of time-scaling is presented that reduces the presence of the reverberation by taking advantage of some flexibility that exists in the choice of phase required so as to maintain horizontal phase coherence along frequency-domain subband components. The approach makes use of appealing aspects of existing time-domain and frequency-domain time-scaling techniques.

Multi Pitch Estimation By Using Iir Comb Filters, Mikel Gainza, Robert Lawlor, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

A technique for detecting the pitches of a polyphonic signal is presented. The system utilises modified IIR comb filters, which are generated to ensure that a null (stop band notches) exists at multiples of note frequencies and that a very flat pass band is present in the remain of the spectrum. Thus, the signal spectrum is not distorted after applying the filters to the audio signal, which is the case when using FIR comb filters. the presented approach improves upon an existing multi pitch detection model based on a FIR comb filter framework.

Multi-Channel Audio Time-Scale Modification, David Dorran, Robert Lawlor, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

Phase vecoder based approaches to audio time-scale modification introduce a reverberant artefact into the time scaled output. Recent techniques have been developed to reduce the presence of this artefact; however, these techniques have the effect of introducing additional issues relating to their application to multi-channel recordings. This paper addresses these issues by collectively analysing all channels prior to time-scaling each individual channel.

The Influence Of Parenting Styles On The Development Of Moral Judgment In College Level Adolescents, Scott M. Hawkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research project addresses the relationship between parenting styles and the development of moral judgment in college students enrolled in a four year private University in Central Virginia. The purpose of this study is to identify the extent to which parenting styles are one of the "building blocks" for the development of moral judgment in adolescents. The instruments used are the Parental Authority Questionnaire (Buri, 1988) and the Defining Issues Test - II (Rest, 1999). The researcher hypothesized that the levels of moral judgment found in college students who perceive that they were parented by parents utilizing an Authoritative parenting …

Lay Shepherding: Developing A Pastoral Care Ministry For The Small To Mid-Sized Church, Barry G. Lawson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A survey of Wesleyan churches and a review of current literature reveals that most pastors are bearing the burden of pastoral care alone. Only a few churches are effectively equipping and empowering lay persons to help provide this needed and meaningful ministry within the body of Christ. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate biblically and historically that the laity are gifted for ministry and that they are called to the task of shepherding God's flock. Further, this project seeks to present a model for implementing a lay shepherding ministry in the small to mid-sized church.

Financial Contracts And The New Bankruptcy Code: Insulating Markets From Bankrupt Debtors And Bankruptcy Judges, Edward R. Morrison, Joerg Riegel

Faculty Scholarship

The reforms of 2005 yield important but subtle changes in the Bankruptcy Code's treatment of financial contracts. They might appear only to eliminate longstanding uncertainty surrounding the protections available to financial contract counterparties, especially counterparties to repurchase transactions and other derivative contracts. But the ambit of the reforms is much broader. The expanded definitions – especially the definition of "swap agreement" – are now so broad that nearly every derivative contract is subject to the Code's protection. Instead of protecting particular counterparties to particular transactions, the Code now protects any counterparty to any derivative contract. Entire markets have been insulated …

Advanced Glycation Endproducts Analysis Of Glucosamine With Reducing Sugars, Dna Nucleosides And Serum Proteins, Udayan Dutta

Open Access Dissertations

Advanced glycation endproducts (AGE) are a complex and heterogeneous group of compounds formed by the nonenzymatic reactions of reducing sugars with amino acids and proteins. The reaction is called the Maillard reaction and is central to all protein glycation studies. Accumulation of AGE in human tissue has been associated with the pathology of various diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, renal failure and ageing and has generated great interest in methods for characterizing the glycated products. Glucosamine GlcN is an unregulated high profile dietary supplement used for the treatment of osteoarthritis with few side effects. There is very little understanding on …

Validation Of A Tool To Measure Drug Knowledge: Evaluating Bioterrorism Preparedness Activities, Gregory A. Low

Open Access Dissertations

Background. Pharmaceutical supplies sufficient to protect millions of people are positioned to respond to a bioterrorist attack in the United States of America, but the educational resources, programs, material, and health professional staffing, to utilize those supplies optimally may be underdeveloped. Professionals and municipalities require objective tools to measure their ability to communicate necessary drug information to adhere to emergency prophylactic regimens. Objective. This research project created a survey tool and laid the foundation to establish the tool's validity to measure patient drug knowledge in bioterrorism preparedness activities that involve the dispensing of prophylactic medications. Methods. Test construction was based …

The "War On Terror" And The "War Of Terror": Nomadic Multitudes, Aggressive Incumbents, And The "New" International Law: Prefactory Remarks On Two "Wars", Upendra Baxi

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article contrasts and compares the war on terror and the war of terror in the wake of, and before, 11 September 2001. The philosophical underpinnings involved in defining "terrorism" are analyzed in the context of the United States' war on terrorism and related wars of terrorism, such as the 1998 World Islamic Council's fatwa. Both wars fall within the wording of recent United Nations' Resolutions that address the adverse impact of terrorism on Human Rights. The understanding of the meaning of "terrorism" by those promoting the war on terrorism provides a powerful political tool, notwithstanding effects on Human Rights …

Earl Warren: Law Enforcement Leads To Defendants' Rights, Yale Kamisar

Articles

Before becoming governor of California, Earl Warren spent 22 years in law enforcement: five as a deputy district attorney (1920- 25); thirteen as head of the Alameda County district attorney's office (1925-38); and four as state attorney general (1939-42). My thesis is that Warren's many years in law enforcement significantly affected his work as Chief Justice of the United States.

The Sec At 70: Time For Retirement?, Adam C. Pritchard

Articles

The Article proceeds as follows. Part I explains the pathologies of the SEC and explores the relation between those pathologies and the SEC's status as an independent agency. Part II then outlines an alternative regulatory structure primarily situated within the executive branch. I also argue that such a relocation of authority would enhance regulatory effectiveness while simultaneously reducing the cost of excessive regulation. The Article concludes with some thoughts about the viability of my proposal.

Procedural Incrementalism: A Model For International Bankruptcy, John A. E. Pottow

Articles

The headline-grabbing business failures of late have brought increased attention to the relatively unresolved area of multinational bankruptcies. Parmalat, Global Crossing, and United Airlines are among the few international juggernauts that have foundered. In the financial meltdowns of these cross-border institutions, assets and creditors are dispersed throughout commercial environments that rarely end neatly at national borders. There has been heated debate, both in scholarly literature and the practical battlefield, over how best to resolve these transnational insolvencies, and there is nothing yet approaching a consensus. Reform efforts of various stripes have almost uniformly failed to gain meaningful international support. At …

Confrontation After Crawford, Richard D. Friedman

Articles

The following edit excerpt, drawn from "The Confrontation Clause Re-Rooted and Transformed," 2003-04 Cato Supreme Court Review 439 (2004), by Law School Professor Richard D. Friedman, discusses the impact, effects, and questions generated by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Crawford v. Washington last year that a defendant is entitled to confront and cross-examine any testimonial statement presented against him. In Crawford, the defendant, charged with attacking another man with a knife, contested the trial court's admission of a tape-recorded statement his wife made to police without giving him the opportunity to cross-examine. The tiral court admitted the statement, and …

After 70 Years Of The Nlrb: Warm Congratulations -- And A Few Reservations, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

The following essay is based on a talk the speaker was invited to deliver to the National Labor Relations Board on June 3 in Washington, D.C., on the occasion of the agency's 70th anniversary.