Digital Commons Network^™

Federal Sentencing Under "Advisory" Guidelines: Observations By District Judges, Lynn S. Adelman, Nancy Gertner, Richard G. Kopf, Gerard E. Lynch, Gregory A. Presnell, Daniel J. Capra

Faculty Scholarship

Good evening. This is the Philip Reed program. It is part of the Centennial Celebration of Fordham Law School. The topic tonight is entitled "Federal Sentencing Under 'Advisory' Guidelines."

There are approximately ten district judges who have written what I would refer to as challenging and influential opinions on how federal courts should approach sentencing under advisory Guidelines. We have five of them on this panel.

Our format tonight is to take short opening statements from the judges and then to discuss some particular issues of controversy in sentencing after Booker. I plan to open it up to questions and …

Computing The Folkman Number F_V(2,2,3;4), Jonathan Coles, Stanislaw Radziszowski

Articles

We discuss a branch of Ramsey theory concerning vertex Folkman numbers and how computer algorithms have been used to compute a new Folkman number. We write G ! (a1, . . . , ak)v if for every vertex k-coloring of an undirected simple graph G, a monochromatic Kai is forced in color i 2 {1, . . . , k}. The vertex Folkman number is defined as Fv(a1, . . . , ak; p) = min{|V (G)| : G ! (a1, . . . , ak)v ^ Kp 6 G}. Folkman showed in 1970 that this number exists for p …

A Parent-Centered Radial Layout Algorithm For Interactive Graph Visualization And Animation, Andrew Pavlo, Christopher Homan, Jonathan Schull

Articles

We have developed (1) a graph visualization system that allows users to explore graphs by viewing them as a succession of spanning trees selected interactively, (2) a radial graph layout algorithm, and (3) an animation algorithm that generates meaningful visualizations and smooth transitions between graphs while minimizing edge crossings during transitions and in static layouts. Our system is similar to the radial layout system of Yee et al. (2001), but differs primarily in that each node is positioned on a coordinate system centered on its own parent rather than on a single coordinate system for all nodes. Our system is …

Introduction To Shadowgraph And Schlieren Imaging, Andrew Davidhazy

Articles

This is an illustrated narrative prepared as the guide to a slide show covering, in a simplified fashion, the optical operating principles associated with shadowgraph and schlieren imaging. This is also available as a PDF document about 3 Mb in size. Added here in August 2006.

Polystyrene Nanocomposites Based On An Oligomerically-Modified Clay Containing Maleic Anhydride, Xiaoxia Zheng, David D. Jiang, Charles A. Wilkie

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

An oligomerically-modified clay containing maleic anhydride was used to prepare polystyrene-clay nanocomposites by melt blending and the effect of this modified clay on the thermal stability and fire performance was studied. These nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and cone calorimetry. The results show a mixed immiscible/intercalated/delaminated morphology. The maleic anhydride modified clay improved the compatibility between the clay and the polystyrene.

Evaluation Of Water-Retention Ability Of Eastern Arkansas Prairie And Agricultural Soil, Maria L. Barrenechea, Kristofor R. Brye

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Agricultural land use affects soil physical properties, such as bulk density, water content, organic matter content, and soil structure; all of which in turn affect ecosystem productivity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of: 1) time since aboveground biomass has been removed by haying (i.e., 0 vs. 23 years), and 2) land use (i.e., undisturbed tallgrass prairie vs. cultivated agriculture) on water-retention characteristics in a silt-loam soil of the Grand Prairie region of eastern Arkansas. Soil samples were collected from the 0- to 10-cm depth and were wetted with varying amounts of distillated water to create …

Water Quality Issues In The Illinois River Watershed: A Proposal For New Voluntary Incentives, Tory B. Hodges, Jennie S. Popp

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Concerns about water quality degradation exist in Northwest Arkansas. The purpose of this study was to analyze the potential usefulness of U.S. conservation programs in addressing water quality concerns on farms in the Illinois River watershed as well as greater Washington County, Arkansas. It was hypothesized that neither the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) nor the Conservation Security Program (CSP) in their current forms effectively assists farmers in meeting water-quality management goals. That hypothesis was tested by 1) examining agricultural characteristics of the watershed, 2) actual adoption of EQIP and CSP in Washington County and Arkansas, and, 3) identifying factors …

Estimating Surface Runoff In The Illinois River Basin For The Management Of Nonpoint-Source Phosphorus Loads, Adam T. Mcclymont, Mary C. Savin, Brian E. Haggard

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

With the growing concern about elevated phosphorus (P) concentrations in regional lakes, rivers, and streams, it is essential to investigate factors contributing to P transport from the landscape. Phosphorus fluxes from nonpoint sources, particularly land applications of poultry litter and other animal manures, are closely related to the amount and production of surface runoff. Daily stream discharge and the software program, Base Flow Index (BFI), were used to estimate the amount and temporal patterns of surface runoff at different locations within the Illinois River Basin, including selected tributaries in northwest Arkansas and northeast Oklahoma. Daily streamflow data from nine U.S. …

A Tool For Estimating Best Management Practice Effectiveness In Arkansas, Katherine R. Merriman, Margaret Gitau, Indrajeet Chaubey

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Increased nutrient and sediment losses from expanding agricultural practices and urban development in Arkansas are important environmental concerns. Best Management Practices (BMPs) are being implemented to lessen the effects of these developments on existing water bodies. There is, however, insufficient scientific base as to the effectiveness of these practices. A number of studies have been conducted in recent years to determine BMP effectiveness. Data from these studies can only be reliably used for the individual site from which they were obtained. When considered collectively, these data comprise quantitative effectiveness over a wide range of conditions and can thus be used …

The Redox Couple Of The Cytochrome C Cyanide Complex: The Contribution Of Heme Iron Ligation To The Structural Stability, Chemical Reactivity, And Physiological Behavior Of Horse Cytochrome C, Abel Schejter, Michael D. Ryan, Erica R. Blizzard, Chongyao Zhang, Emanuel Margoliash, Benjamin A. Feinberg

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Contrary to most heme proteins, ferrous cytochrome c does not bind ligands such as cyanide and CO. In order to quantify this observation, the redox potential of the ferric/ferrous cytochrome c–cyanide redox couple was determined for the first time by cyclic voltammetry. Its E⁰′ was −240 mV versus SHE, equivalent to −23.2 kJ/mol. The entropy of reaction for the reduction of the cyanide complex was also determined. From a thermodynamic cycle that included this new value for the cyt c cyanide complex E⁰′, the binding constant of cyanide to the reduced protein was estimated to …

Is There A New Digital Collection In Your Future?, Roger V. Skalbeck

Law Faculty Publications

In this article, we take a look at a handful of the bigger law-related digital collections available today. We present the core elements of each collection to give readers an idea of what is out there. In addition, we look at some broad-based questions presented by acquiring access to digital collections. Finally, briefly, we look at issues of access, ownership, copyright, interlibrary lending, catalog records, and cost.

California's Punitive Damages Law: Continuing To Punish And Deter Despite State Farm V. Campbell, Kathleen S. Kizer

UC Law Journal

In State Farm v. Campbell, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the punitive damages awarded in a particular case must be proportional to the amount of compensatory damages awarded in that case. Although the Court refrained from setting a "bright-line ratio," many courts reviewing awards after State Farm have time and again reduced punitive damages awards, using factors between four and nine in reliance on proclamations made by the Court in State Farm. In addition, State Farm casts doubt on whether a defendant's financial condition is relevant to the issue of punitive damages. Both of these assertions-that punitive damages must …

The Voting Rights Act And The Racial Gap In Lost Votes, Paul Moke, Richard B. Saphire

UC Law Journal

Recent presidential and gubernatorial elections have exposed serious flaws in the process by which American voters participate in the democratic franchise. Studies have shown that African- Americans who use inferior punch card technology are more likely than non-African-Americans to be disenfranchised because of unintentional errors in the use of voting equipment. Following the disputed 2000 presidential election, several civil rights and civil liberties organizations used section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to challenge state voting technology, arguing that punch card equipment has an adverse impact on racial minorities.

This Article examines the empirical evidence on voting technology, residual votes, …

Ignoring The Supreme Court: State V. White, The Civil Commitment Of Sexually Violent Predators, And Majoritarian Judicial Pressures, Eric W. Buetzow

UC Law Journal

In Kansas v. Hendricks, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state statutes that allow for the civil commitment of "sexually violent predators" after completion of their criminal sentences. But the Court in Hendricks left uncertain the precise requirements demanded by substantive due process in this context. Specifically, questions remained regarding whether, and to what degree, a defendant must suffer from volitional inability for the commitment to pass constitutional muster. The Supreme Court responded five years later in Kansas v. Crane, where it held that "there must be proof of serious difficulty in controlling behavior." This could have been considered …

Ce-Qual-W2: A Two-Dimensional, Laterally Averaged, Hydrodynamic And Water Quality Model, Version 3.5, Thomas M. Cole, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This manual documents the two-dimensional, laterally averaged, hydrodynamic and water quality model CE-QUAL-W2. This manual was prepared in the Environmental Laboratory (EL), us Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES), Vicksburg, MS. Bonita Niel and Dr. William Roper, CERD-C provided funding for Version 3.1 of the manual under the Numerical Model Maintenance Program. The principal investigator for Version 3.2 of CE-QUAL-W2 and the User Manual was Mr. Thomas M. Cole of the Water Quality and Contaminant Modeling Branch (WQCMB), Environmental Processes and Effects Division (EPED), EL. This report supersedes the Version 3.2 manual. Revisions made in this V3.5 manual were made …

Kernels Of Directed Graph Laplacians, John S. Caughman Iv, J. J. P. Veerman

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Let G denote a directed graph with adjacency matrix Q and in- degree matrix D. We consider the Kirchhoff matrix L = D − Q, sometimes referred to as the directed Laplacian. A classical result of Kirchhoff asserts that when G is undirected, the multiplicity of the eigenvalue 0 equals the number of connected components of G. This fact has a meaningful generalization to directed graphs, as was observed by Chebotarev and Agaev in 2005. Since this result has many important applications in the sciences, we offer an independent and self-contained proof of their theorem, showing in this paper …

The Convergence Of V-Cycle Multigrid Algorithms For Axisymmetric Laplace And Maxwell Equations, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Joseph E. Pasciak

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigate some simple finite element discretizations for the axisymmetric Laplace equation and the azimuthal component of the axisymmetric Maxwell equations as well as multigrid algorithms for these discretizations. Our analysis is targeted at simple model problems and our main result is that the standard V-cycle with point smoothing converges at a rate independent of the number of unknowns. This is contrary to suggestions in the existing literature that line relaxations and semicoarsening are needed in multigrid algorithms to overcome difficulties caused by the singularities in the axisymmetric Maxwell problems. Our multigrid analysis proceeds by applying the well known regularity …

The Bulletin, Undergraduate Catalog 2006-2007 (2006), Minnesota State University Moorhead

Undergraduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Magnetic Order In The Quasi-One-Dimensional Spin-1/2 Molecular Chain Compound Copper Pyrazine Dinitrate, T Lancaster, S J. Blundell, M L. Brooks, P J. Baker, F L. Pratt, Jamie L. Manson, C P. Landee, C Baines

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

We present evidence of magnetic order in the quasi-one-dimensional spin-1/2 molecular chain compound, copper pyrazine dinitrate Cu(C4H4N2)(NO3)(2). Zero field muon-spin relaxation measurements made at dilution refrigerator temperatures show oscillations in the measured asymmetry characteristic of a quasistatic magnetic field at the muon sites. Our measurements provide convincing evidence for long-range magnetic order below a temperature T-N=107(1) mK. This leads to an estimate of the interchain coupling constant of vertical bar J'vertical bar/k(B)=0.046 K and to a ratio of vertical bar J'/J vertical bar=4.4x10(-3).

Assessment Of The Technology Of Genetic Modification In Light Of Its Socio-Economic Implications, Valentina Lootens

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

Since Watson and Crick discovered the “double helix” in 1953, the arguments about the benefits and danger of genetic modification remain largely unanswered, particularly in the relation to food supply. Today, genetic modification or genetic engineering are global issues. Governments, scientific organizations, corporations, research institutions, and scholars hotly dispute the advantages and disadvantages of GM technology. However, unfortunately, the population at large is left in darkness about this new technology and its consequences for human health, environment and society. Moreover, genetic engineering creates a special problem: unlike many new technologies it is irreversible. Once introduced into the food chain, GM …

Robust Shape Design Techniques For Steady-State Metal Forming Processes, Jalaja Repalle

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Metal forming is a process that transforms a simple shape of a workpiece into a predetermined complex shape through the application of compressive/tensile forces exerted by dies. In the design of a forming process, the only factors that are known are the final component shape and the material with which it is to be made. Then the engineer has to design a process to make defect-free product, subject to limitations of shape, material properties, cost, time, and other such factors. The design cycle can be enhanced if performance sensitivity information is available that could be used with any commercially available …

Driving Deep Semantics In Middleware And Networks: What, Why And How?, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

No abstract provided.

Knowledge Modeling And Its Application In Life Sciences: A Tale Of Two Ontologies, Satya S. Sahoo, Christopher Thomas, Amit P. Sheth, William S. York, Samir Tartir

Kno.e.sis Publications

High throughput glycoproteomics, similar to genomics and proteomics, involves extremely large volumes of distributed, heterogeneous data as a basis for identification and quantification of a structurally diverse collection of biomolecules. The ability to share, compare, query for and most critically correlate datasets using the native biological relationships are some of the challenges being faced by glycobiology researchers. As a solution for these challenges, we are building a semantic structure, using a suite of ontologies, which supports management of data and information at each step of the experimental lifecycle. This framework will enable researchers to leverage the large scale of glycoproteomics …

Show Me What You Mean! Exploiting Domain Semantics In Ontology Visualization, Ravi Pavagada, Christopher Thomas, Amit P. Sheth, William S. York

Kno.e.sis Publications

Ontologies build the backbone for many life-sciences applications. These ontologies, however, are represented in XML based languages that are meant for machine-consumption and hence are difficult for humans to comprehend. For a meaningful visualization of these ontologies, it is important that the display of entities and relationships captures the cognitive representation of the domain as perceived by the domain experts. In this paper we present OntoVista, an ontology visualization tool that is adaptable to the needs of different domains, especially in the life sciences. While keeping the graph structures as the predominant model, we provide a semantically enhanced graph display …

Secondary Teacher Attitudes Toward Including English-Language Learners In Mainstream Classrooms, Jenelle Reeves

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Researchers have given limited attention to teacher attitudes toward inclusion of English-language learners (ELLs) in mainstream classrooms. The author explored four categories within secondary teacher attitudes toward ELL inclusion: (a) ELL inclusion, (b) coursework modification for ELLS, (c) professional development for working with ELLs, and (d) perceptions of language and language learning. Findings from a survey of 279 subject-area high school teachers indicate a neutral to slightly positive attitude toward ELL inclusion, a somewhat positive attitude toward coursework modification, a neutral attitude toward professional development for working with ELLs, and educator misconceptions regarding how second languages are learned.

Horizontal Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands For On-Site Wastewater Treatment, Boyd C. Hoddinott

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (SSFCWs) are being used worldwide to treat wastewater from a variety of sources. An extensive literature review was conducted to update the current state of scientific knowledge on the performance of SSFCWs for domestic wastewater treatment. This review documented good treatment efficiency for the five commonly measured parameters (TSS, BOD, nitrogen, phosphorus, and fecal coliforms).

An attempt at a Meta analysis turned up a myriad of problems preventing a proper statistical review. These include lack of adherence to standard methods for effluent analysis, varying metrics for reporting treatment efficiency, variability in the nitrogen species which …

Annual Report On Research Activities 2005-2006, Lingnan University (Hong Kong, China)

Annual Report on Research Activities to Research Grants Council

No abstract provided.

Service-Learning And Research Scheme : The Lingnan Model, Office Of Service-Learning, Lingnan University, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, Hok Ka, Carol Ma, Meng Soi, Florence Fong

OSL Book / Book Chapter / Manual 書刊/文章/教材冊

This Manual is a product of Lingnan University’s pilot SLRS. It aims to provide a framework for interested parties to organize or refine a range of Service-Learning

Programs and to develop a comprehensive set of validating instruments that can be used to assess the effectiveness of the SLRS from the varying perspectives of students, course instructors, social service agency supervisors and program coordinators. The specific objectives of this Manual are:
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(i) To provide useful reference information on Service-Learning to interested parties at Lingnan University and other tertiary institutions.
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(ii) To provide definitions of the structures, contents …

Strain Accumulation Across The Carrizo Segment Of The San Andreas Fault, California: Impact Of Laterally Varying Crustal Properties, Gina Schmalzle, Timothy H. Dixon, Rocco Malservisi, Rob Govers

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Major strike slip faults juxtapose geologically dissimilar terrain which may vary in mechanical properties, leading to an asymmetric pattern of strain accumulation. We present new GPS data on the Carrizo segment of the San Andreas Fault, separating the Salinian block southwest of the fault from Franciscan terrane northeast of the fault, to better quantify asymmetric strain accumulation. We also present a series of finite element models to investigate the possible role of variable elastic layer thickness and material properties of the upper crust. The geodetic data are well fit with a simple model comprising a weak upper crustal zone 10–25 …

Near-Infrared And The Inner Regions Of Protoplanetary Disks, Dejan Vinković, Željko Ivezić, Tomislav Jurkić, Moshe Elitzur

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We examine the “puffed-up inner disk” model proposed by Dullemond, Dominik, & Natta for explaining the near-IR excess radiation from Herbig Ae/Be stars. Detailed model computations show that the observed near-IR excess requires more hot dust than is contained in the puffed-up disk rim. The rim can produce the observed near-IR excess only if its dust has perfectly gray opacity, but such dust is in conflict with the observed 10 μm spectral feature. We find that a compact (~10 AU), tenuous (τ_V ≲ 0.4), dusty halo around the disk inner regions contains enough dust to readily explain …