Digital Commons Network^™

Anti-System Parties:Policy Choices For Democracies A Study Of India's Bharatiya Janata Party And Austria's Freedom Party, Kristina M. Teater

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In the decades following WWII, countries across the globe witnessed the rise of anti-system parties. Political scientists have attributed their success to economic conditions, electoral systems, party systems and the electorate’s disaffection with mainstream parties. The analysis also suggests the influence of global factors. While the causes for success have been examined, effective policy choices for democracies have not been equally explored. This study makes the argument that by including anti-system parties in government, states are able to lessen the threat they pose to democracy. The analysis of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party and Austria’s Freedom party suggest that anti-system parties …

Pyrrole Carboxamides As Potential Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors, Nishrin Ismailbhai Marketwala

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Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are metalloenzymes that catalyze the reversible interconversion of CO2 and bicarbonate. We recently initiated a screen of a broad range of indoles and pyrroles possessing acyl-, carboxyl-, amido-, sulfonyl-, sulfamyl- and oxime- functionalities as potential inhibitors of á-CA II isozyme. As slight inhibition was observed in the case of 2-carboxamido-1-(phenylsulfonyl)pyrrole, and aware that pyrrole carboxamide derived sulfonamides had been previously demonstrated to possess CA inhibition, we sought to prepare a series of 1-(phenylsulfonyl)pyrrole-2-carboxamides but lacking a sulfonamide moiety to ascertain if the activity in our case might be due to a hitherto unrecognized pyrrole pharmacophore. To this …

Geostatistical Characterization Of Heterogeneity In The Aberjona River Aquifer, Woburn, Massachusetts, James Ralph Damico

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Ground water flow and contaminant transport patterns are largely controlled by the distribution of high- and low-permeability sediments. Therefore, an accurate description of the aquifer architecture is paramount to producing a representative ground water model. Models of contaminant fate and transport in the aquifer near Woburn, Massachusetts, have previously been created by others using a deterministic approach. As a complement to these prior studies, the proportions, geometry, and juxtaposition of the different lithofacies of the aquifer were statistically characterized for developing stochastic models for the aquifer system. The descriptions of lithology from boreholes were separated into eleven categories based primarily …

Methodology For Quantifying Biomechanical Bone Movement Of Transtibial Amputations, Johanna C. Bell

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A controversy has long existed about an alternate below knee amputation procedure that may be more beneficial than the traditional transtibial amputation. The proponents of this alternate procedure that stabilizes the distal tibia and fibula claim it reduces excessive movement of the fibula relative to the tibia that occurs with common movements, such as walking. The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology for quantifying excessive movement of the fibula bone relative to the tibia bone in traditional below the knee amputations. The methodology will measure the movement and rotation of the fibula relative to the tibia. These …

A Field Programmable Gate Array Architecture For Two-Dimensional Partial Reconfiguration, Fei Wang

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Reconfigurable machines can accelerate many applications by adapting to their needs through hardware reconfiguration. Partial reconfiguration allows the reconfiguration of a portion of a chip while the rest of the chip is busy working on tasks. Operating system models have been proposed for partially reconfigurable machines to handle the scheduling and placement of tasks. They are called OS4RC in this dissertation. The main goal of this research is to address some problems that come from the gap between OS4RC and existing chip architectures and the gap between OS4RC models and practical applications. Some existing OS4RC models are based on an …

Kinetics And Passive Protection Efficacy Induced By Purified Ava Human Immunoglobulin G In Rabbits Against A Bacillus Anthracis Aerosol Challenge, Jennifer Lee Plahovinsak

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The present study was conducted to determine the half-life, assess the toxicity, and passive protection efficacy of purified immunoglobulin G (IgG) from Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed (AVA) vaccinated human donors. Half-life determinations were calculated from the reportable values obtained using the anti-PA ELISA assay and the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) "ELISA for Windows" software. For toxicity evaluations animals were observed clinical for one hour post administration and for 14-days post-treatment. The protection efficacy was determined based upon the mortality results from a lethal Bacillus anthracis aerosol challenge. While no protection was achieved in this delayed exposure scenario, the study yielded …

Active Regulation Of Speed During A Simulated Low-Altitude Flight Task: Altitude Matters!, April M. Bennett

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This study examined active regulation of speed during a low-altitude flight task as a function of global optical flow rate, speed, and the presence or absence of a concurrent altitude disturbance. The results showed that altitude clearly had an impact on speed control; specifically, control of speed was much more difficult when altitude disturbances were present. Even in the no altitude disturbance conditions, performance tended to be best at lower altitudes. Consistent with previous research, the results suggest that speed and altitude changes have additive effects on speed judgments. This is inconsistent with the simple global optical flow rate hypothesis …

Topology Optimization Of Engine Exhaust-Washed Structures, Mark A. Haney

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Aircraft structure subjected to elevated temperature and acoustic loading present a challenging design environment. Thermal stress in a structural component has typically been alleviated by allowing thermal expansion. However, very little work has been done which directly addresses the situation where such a prescription is not possible. When a structural component has failed due to thermally-induced tensile stresses, the answer to the question of how best to stiffen the structure is far from trivial. In this work, we demonstrate that conventional stiffening techniques, for example, those which add material to the thickness of a failing panel, may actually increase the …

Multi-Attribute Optimization Based On Conjoint Analysis, Hemanth K. Amarchinta

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Over the last thirty years, there were tremendous advances in multidisciplinary design optimization in reducing computational cost, developing algorithms for efficient sensitivity analysis in reaching an optimum. Most of these efforts assumed a single objective (attribute) function and a multitude of constraints. Very little work has been done in including the designer's preferences as part of the optimization scheme and in addressing the ability to handle multiple attributes simultaneously. This need to develop a systematic method for including designer's preferences is the main focus of this research work. The concept of modeling preferences among multi-attribute alternatives is prevalent in consumer …

Using In-Situ Error Tracking For Mode Selection In Proper Orthogonal Decomposition Reduced Order Modelling, Michael Richard Maddux

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Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) provides a method of analyzing data and/or creating a Reduced Order Model (ROM). In this thesis, POD is used to create a ROM comprised of basis functions onto which the governing equations of a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) problem are projected via Galerkin's method. The model is of reduced order since the basis functions span a space smaller than the space from which they were created. A full order simulation called the training period is conducted first to obtain data to be used for creating the ROM using POD. The dominant characteristics are extracted from the …

The Modeling Of Solubility, Frank Christopher Campanell

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In this work the solubilities of gases in liquids and liquids in liquids were modeled using both physical properties and topological descriptors of the solutes. Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) methods were employed to create single-linear regression (SLR) and multiple-linear regression (MLR) models of the solubilities. Factor analysis was employed to determine the number of significant factors present in the solubilities. The solubilities of monoalcohols in water, halogenated alkanes in water, gases in water, gases in alkanes, and gases in alcohols were examined and modeled.

System Analysis And Rf-Floodlight Exploitation Of Short-Range Gotcha Repeaters, Jose A. Montes De Oca

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Emerging wide-area synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system concepts call for a single data collection platform to orbit a large ( e.g., 20-km) spot at a nominal range of 40-km. The large standoff distance and desire for fine resolution, coupled with a need for persistent real-time sensing, pose a significant challenge in terms of clutter-to-noise ratio (CNR) performance and data processing. Increased CNR and reduced processing load can be achieved by decreasing the range of the SAR system and the size of the area of interest. Employing multiple cooperating SAR systems allows the same overall coverage area to be maintained …

Interactive Effects Of Feedback Type And Feedback Propensities On Task Performance, Kristin M. Delgado

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The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of feedback types (i.e., outcome, process, and task feedback), feedback propensities, and their interactions on task performance in an attempt to determine, first, which types of feedback produced better task performance and, second, how feedback propensities influenced relationships between feedback type and performance. Process feedback and task feedback were expected to interact in their effects on task performance. In addition, I predicted that external feedback propensity would moderate the effects of process feedback on performance and initial task performance would moderate the effects of internal feedback propensity on task …

Review Of Yellow Sky, Michael Adams

Publications and Research

Review of William Wellman's 1948 Western, inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Review Of I Wake Up Screaming, Michael Adams

Publications and Research

Review of H. Bruce Humberstone's I Wake Up Screaming: http://www.media-party.com/discland/2006/07/i-wake-up-screaming.html

Classical And Quantum Algorithms For Finding Cycles, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

Quantum computing—so weird, so wonderful—inspires much speculation about the line between the possible and the impossible. (Of course, there is still unclarity about how “impossible” intractable problems are and about how “possible” quantum computers are.) This thesis takes a slightly different tack: instead of focusing on how to make the impossible possible, it focuses on how to make the possible easier.

More specifically, this paper discusses quantum algorithms for finding cycles in graphs, a problem for which polynomial-time classical algorithms already exist. It explains and compares the classical and quantum algorithms, and it introduces a few new algorithms and observations. …

Diatom Paleolimnological Record Of Holocene Climatic And Environmental Change In The Altai Mountains, Siberia, Karlyn S. Westover, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Tatyana A. Blyakharchuk, Herbert E. Wright

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The sedimentary diatom records of three shallow lakes in the Altai Mountains, southern Siberia, were examined to assess the nature and timing of Holocene environmental changes. Few paleoenvironmental records, especially reconstructions not based on pollen, have been reported from this region. The lakes differ in elevation, annual precipitation, and catchment vegetation. Diatom assemblages in all lakes were dominated for the entire period of record by small benthic species of Pseudostaurosira Williams & Round, Staurosira Ehrenberg, and Staurosirella Williams & Round. Planktonic taxa only occur in very low abundances (<5%). The most diverse diatom flora was found in Dzhangyskol, which is situated at the lowest elevation within a forested catchment. A lack of detailed information on the ecological preferences of the dominant taxa and the complexity of environmental drivers make direct interpretation of the diatom record difficult. However, other proxies suggest that dramatic shifts in dominance between Staurosira elliptica and Staurosirella pinnata in Grusha Ozero reflect millennial-scale variability …

Moisture-Induced Delayed Spallation And Interfacial Hydrogen Embrittlement Of Alumina Scales, James L. Smialek Ph.D.

United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Publications

While interfacial sulfur is the primary chemical factor affecting Al₂O₃ scale adhesion, moisture-induced delayed spallation appears as a secondary, but impressive, mechanistic detail. Similarities with bulk metallic phenomena suggest that hydrogen embrittlement from ambient humidity, resulting from the reaction Al_alloy +3(H₂O)_air = Al(OH)–3 +3H⁺ may be the operative mechanism. This proposal was tested on pre-oxidized René N5 by standard cathodic hydrogen charging in 1N H₂SO₄, as monitored by weight change, induced current, and microstructure. Cathodic polarization at –2.0 V abruptly stripped mature Al₂O₃ scales at …

Trademarks And The Landscape Of Imagination, Alan L. Durham

Articles

No abstract provided.

Thomas Aquinas And The Metaphysics Of Law, William S. Brewbaker Iii

Articles

Despite modernity's longstanding aversion to metaphysics, legal scholars are increasingly questioning whether law can be understood in isolation from wider questions about the nature of reality. This Article examines perhaps the most famous of metaphysical legal texts—Thomas Aquinas's still widely read Treatise on Law—with a view toward tracing the influence of Thomas's metaphysical presuppositions. This Article shows that Thomas's account of human law cannot be fully understood apart from his metaphysics. Attention to Thomas's hierarchical view of reality exposes tensions between Thomas's “top-down” account of law and his sophisticated “bottom-up” observations. For example, Thomas grounds human law's authority in its …

Tending To The Spirit: A Proposal For Healing The Hearts Of Black Children In Poverty Black Children And Their Families In The 21st Century: Surviving The American Nightmare Or Living The American Dream, Steven H. Hobbs, Shenavia Baity

Articles

No abstract provided.

Rodrigo's Roundelay: Hernandez V. Texas And The Interest-Convergence Dilemma, Richard Delgado

Articles

In this chronicle Rodrigo meets with his mentor before a party and the two discuss celebratory jurisprudence Their discussion focuses on Hernandez v Texas as a milestone for Latino civil rights After discussing the historical background against which the Supreme Court decided the case they conclude that the groundbreaking decision arrived as a result of concerns in high circles over Latin American communism and peoples movements and the risk of the same in the United States

Hitting The Sweet Spot: Finding The Center In Teaching Professional Responsibility, Steven H. Hobbs

Articles

No abstract provided.

History Belongs To The Winners: The Bazelon-Leventhal Debate And The Continuing Relevance Of The Process/Substance Dichotomy In Judicial Review Of Agency Action Administrative Law Discussion Forum, Ronald J. Krotoszynski Jr.

Articles

No abstract provided.

Or Of The [Blog], Paul Horwitz

Articles

This paper a contribution to a symposium on blogs and the law examines the legal and constitutional status of blogs Specifically it offers three ways of looking at the relationship between blogs and the Press Clause and not incidentally of looking at the Press Clause itselfFirst drawing on recent historical work I suggest that we might view the Press Clause through either the free press or open press models that historically have applied to that provision Viewing the Press Clause through the open press model makes a home for blogs in the Press Clause but dilutes the content of the …

Sausage-Making, Pigs' Ears, And Congressional Expansions Of Federal Jurisdiction: Exxon Mobil V. Allapattah And Its Lessons For The Class Action Fairness Act, Adam N. Steinman

Articles

The year 2005 witnessed two watershed developments in federal jurisdiction: the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services, Inc. and the enactment of the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). Allapantah and CAFA raise the same fundamental question: how should courts interpret a statute whose text would expand federal jurisdiction far beyond what Congress apparently intended? In Allapattah, the Court confronted this question in resolving an aspect of the supplemental jurisdiction statute that had deeply divided both the judiciary and academia. CAFA's expansion of federal jurisdiction over class actions will require courts to struggle with this question …

Fiduciaries Meador Lecture Series 2005-2006, Kenneth M. Rosen

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Man, The State And You: The Role Of The State In Regulating Gender Hierarchies, Meredith M. Render

Articles

No abstract provided.

Uncovering Identity 2007 Survey Of Books Related To The Law: Reviews: Lives In The Law, Paul Horwitz

Essays, Reviews, and Shorter Works

No abstract provided.

Misogyny, Androgyny, And Sexual Harassment: Sex Discrimination In A Gender-Deconstructed World, Meredith M. Render

Articles

Understanding sexual harassment as a form of discrimination because of sex has grown increasingly difficult as our understandings of both gender and sex have grown richer and more complex This piece offers a new descriptive model for understanding gender bias in the context of sexual harassment law The piece argues that two separate sets of ideas about gender have intersected to produce a new picture of gender equality one that is separated from a binary model of men and women but that nonetheless continues to disadvantage women as compared to men The paper refers to this idea as the androcentricassimilation …