Digital Commons Network^™

Wrestling With Muds To Pin Down The Truth About Special Districts, Sara C. Galvan

Fordham Law Review

Federal, state, and local governments encourage and empower special districts--board-run, special purpose local government units that are administratively and fiscally independent from general purpose local governments. Special districts receive incentives, grants, and freedom from limitations (such as limitations on tax and debt) imposed on general purpose local governments. Special districts are treated favorably because they are small in size, which theoretically means they foster democratic participation; are limited in purpose, meaning that states can tailor special districts' powers to serve specific problems; and are viewed as efficient solutions to specific problems. Though special districts have tripled in number over the …

Keeping Students Alive: Mandating On-Campus Counseling Saves Suicidal College Students' Lives And Limits Liability, Valerie Kravets Cohen

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Bright Line Of Rapanos: Analyzing The Plurality's Two-Part Test, Taylor Romigh

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

On Computing Shannon’S Sphere Packing Bound And Applications, Mz Ahmed, Ma Ambroze, M Tomlinson

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

A new method to numerically evalu- ate Shannon’s lower bound is presented in this pa- per. This new method is based on the Incomplete Beta function and permits the exact evaluation of the Sphere Packing Bound for a large range of code sizes, rates and probability of error. Comparisons with cur- rent standards (DVB–RCS, DVB–S2 and 3GPP) are also presented and discussed. It is shown that cur- rent standard coding schemes are about 0.6dB from the Shannon Limit corrected for Binary Signalling.

Collaborative Business Relationships And The Use Of Ict: The Case Of The Marine, Defence And Resources Cluster, Western Australia, Helen Cripps

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The research project was developed from an Australian Research Council Grant designed to investigate collaborative commerce and its impact on regional economic development. Through a process of consultation with the industry partner, the South West Group, the research was designed to investigate the drivers and inhibitors of collaborative relationships and the factors that impact on the creation and sustaining of these relationships. The role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in facilitating and sustaining collaborative relationships and the perceived benefits and drawbacks of collaborative relationships were also investigated. The research sought to identify models of the best adoption of collaborative relationships.

Cultural Acclimatisation: Foreign Students Studying In A Private Educational Institution In Singapore, Chor Khoon Chey

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This Portfolio aims to examine the problems of acclimatisation and coping strategies of such foreign students. A sample of tweleve students was chosen from Chinese students studying at one private educational institution in Singapore. Drawing on the findings of Furnham (1997) and Murphy-Lejenne (2002), among others, the present study looks at the reasons why the participants decided to travel overseas, why they chose Singapore as their destination, what problems they encountered while here, and how they coped with the problems. They were also asked what specific problems they encountered with the schools they enrolled in. It is the contention of …

Cultivating The Civic Scientist: Science Communication & Tertiary Biotechnology Education, Joanne Edmondston

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Biotechnology is one of the most rapidly growing industries of the 21st Century and governments worldwide have invested significant funds to support research and development in this area. The belief that the commercialisation of biotechnology will offer significant social and economic benefits to the communities investing in this industry, however, is not a universally accepted view. Surveys of attitudes towards biotechnology in a number of countries have indicated that there are widespread concerns about the risks presented by the industry and the application of biotechnology products (Smith, 2001). These public concerns have resulted in a stronger focus being placed on …

Soil Fertility And Productivity Relationships In Rice Production System, Bangladesh, S Rahman, Rj Parkinson

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper presents an econometric analysis of the influence of soil fertility status on productivity and resource use in rice production utilizing survey data from 21 villages in three agro-ecological regions of Bangladesh. Detailed crop husbandry input-output data were collected from 380 paddy rice (Oryza sativa) farmers. Data collected included fertilizer, pesticide, labour, animal power services, irrigation, farm capital assets and rice yield. The soil fertility status in each region was determined by analysis of soil organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium concentration. Analysis was based on a profit function, where the selected soil fertility parameters were incorporated as …

Competitive Advantage Of Small And Medium Size Enterprises In Palestine, Younis Hammad

Plymouth Business School Theses

The main core of this study is to assess the current state of the Palestinian Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) sector and determine its potential and opportunities open to this sector for playing a central role in the development process, as well as to examine the reasons behind the limited presence of SMEs' in the Palestinian territory. This thesis explores and examines via qualitative and quantitative research methods, the competitive advantages and distinctive competencies that determine success in firms established in Palestine before and after the Oslo Agreement. The study embraces two case analyses, indepth interviews of successful and …

Port Competitiveness In North East Asia : An Integrated Fuzzy Approach To Expert Evaluations, Gi-Tae Yeo

Plymouth Business School Theses

Despite the fact that the Northeast Asia (NEA) region, which had four of the top five and 20 of the top 30 container ports in the world in 2003, can be regarded as holding a central position in liner shipping and the handling of container cargo volumes, very little research has been done into the evaluation of its port competitiveness (EPC). For this reason, the EPC in NEA can be regarded as a problematic and urgent issue to be solved, and worthy of academic attention. From this aspect, this research set out to attempt to address the above issue by …

The Adoption Of Internet Technologies By Independent Hotels In The Uk, Wai Mun Lim

Plymouth Business School Theses

The growth of the technology and its range of possible uses have made it a necessity for independent hoteliers to examine their use of the internet, specifically its effectiveness for marketing and distribution purposes. It is widely recognised that the independent hotel sector makes up the bulk of the hotel industry in the UK and often do not have the resources or desire to keep up with new technologies. This study scrutinizes, evaluates and establishes the factors that influence the decision to adopt a range of internet technologies for marketing and distribution within the UK Independent hotel sector. The conceptual …

Socio-Economic Aspects Of Commercial Ports And Wharves In Southwest England: A Grounded Theory Approach To Regional Competitiveness, Sarah Tuck

Plymouth Business School Theses

The Southwest Region, as defined by the SW Regional Development Agency, forms an extended peninsula with a coastline of 1,020 km, the longest of any region in England. All along this coastline are fishing ports, commercial ports, small wharves, closed ports, ferry ports and leisure ports. Amongst the smallest are a dozen tidal ports, tiny harbours and rocky wharfs that still maintain a commercial trade of local and environmental significance. According to most theories of port development these ports should close, being forced out of business by larger, more efficient ports. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen people who were …

Comparison Of Three Survey Methods Applied To The Recreational Rock Lobster Fishery Of Western Australia., Tara Baharthah

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A mail survey of recreational rock lobster licence holders has been conducted annually since 1986. The results from this survey have been used in the management of the recreational rock lobster fishery in Western Australia. Mail surveys are susceptible to non-response and recall bias. The key to determining useful estimates of fishing catch and effort is to minimise both biases. Telephone recall surveys, with high response rates, effectively eliminate nonresponse bias. However, they still suffer from recall bias when the recall period is greater than two months. Telephone diary surveys are free of non-response bias and recall bias and provide …

Mapping The Elements Of Physical Security Towards The Creation Of A Holistic Physical Security Model, Zachary J. Alach

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study has designed a theoretical mapping of complex element relationships within the field of physical security. The main purpose of the mapping is to form individual knowledge structures for modelling and provide a relative understanding of overall risk based on different combinations of physical security arrangements. An understanding of overall risk for modelling purposes should lead to improvements in providing support for decision making within this field. The final series of knowledge structures in this study have been represented by value matrices for element pair assessments within the topic of physical security. The values that have been presented in …

Accident Denominators Relative To Age Groups In Heavy Industries Of The Port Hedland Region Of Western Australia, John R. Bottrell

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The aim of this research is to investigate characteristics of accident denominators across age groups in mining and associated process industries in the Port Hedland region of Western Australia. Emphasis has been focussed on comparing young, inexperienced groups with older, more experienced groups. A literature review revealed some key contributors to accidents among younger workers, in particular, those who had only recently entered the workforce. The review also revealed contributors impacting accidents regarding other age groups over a wide range of industry types. From these findings an accident construct model and questionnaire were designed to identify contributing and mitigating denominators …

The Solution Of Traffic Signal Timing By Using Traffic Intensity Estimation And Fuzzy Logic, Paothai Vonglao

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study aims at calculating the traffic signal timing that suits traffic intensity at intersections studied in the inner city of Ubon Rachathani Provice, Thailand. The mixed models between maximum likelihood estimation and Bayesian inference are presented to estimate traffic intensity. A queuing system is used to generate the performance of traffic flow. A fuzzy logic system is applied to calculate the optimal length of each phase of the cycle. The fortran language is used to produce the computer program for computation. The algorithm of the computer programming is based on EM algorithm, Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm, queuing generation …

Measurement Of Prompt Photons With Associated Jets In Photoproduction At Hera, S. Chekanov, M. Derrick, S. Magill, S. Miglioranzi, B. Musgrave, D. Nicholass, J. Repond, R. Yoshida, Margarita C. K. Mattingly, N. Pavel, A. G. Yagües Molina, S. Antonelli, P. Antonioli, G. Bari, M. Basile, L. Bellagamba, M. Bindi, D. Boscherini, A. Bruni, G. Bruni, L. Cifarelli, F. Cindolo, A. Contin, M. Corradi, S. De Pasquale, G. Iacobucci, A. Margotti, R. Nania, A. Polini, L. Rinaldi, G. Sartorelli

Faculty Publications

The photoproduction of prompt photons, together with an accompanying jet, has been studied in ep collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 318 GeV with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 77 pb-1. Cross sections were measured for the transverse energy of the photon and the jet larger than 5 and 6 GeV, respectively. The differential γ+jet cross sections were reconstructed as functions of the transverse energy, pseudorapidity and xγobs, the fraction of the incoming photon momentum taken by the photon-jet system. Predictions based on leading-logarithm parton-shower Monte Carlo models and next-to-leading-order (NLO) QCD generally underestimate the …

Search For Stop Production In R-Parity-Violating Supersymmetry At Hera, S. Chekanov, M. Derrick, S. Magill, S. Miglioranzi, B. Musgrave, D. Nicholass, J. Repond, R. Yoshida, Margarita C. K. Mattingly, N. Pavel, A. G. Yagües Molina, S. Antonelli, P. Antonioli, G. Bari, M. Basile, L. Bellagamba, M. Bindi, D. Boscherini, A. Bruni, G. Bruni, L. Cifarelli, F. Cindolo, A. Contin, M. Corradi, S. De Pasquale, G. Iacobucci, A. Margotti, R. Nania, A. Polini, L. Rinaldi, G. Sartorelli

Faculty Publications

A search for stop production in R-parity-violating supersymmetry has been performed in e+p interactions with the ZEUS detector at HERA, using an integrated luminosity of 65 pb-1. At HERA, the R-parity-violating coupling λ' allows resonant squark production, e+d→̃ q. Since the lowest-mass squark state in most supersymmetry models is the light stop, ̃t, this search concentrated on production of ̃t, followed either by a direct R-parity-violating decay, or by the gauge decay to b̃x1+. No evidence for stop production was found and limits were set on λ'131 as a function of the stop mass in the framework of the minimal …

Evolution Of Prehension Ability In An Anthropomorphic Neurorobotic Arm, G Massera

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

In this paper, we show how a simulated anthropomorphic robotic arm controlled by an artificial neural network can develop effective reaching and grasping behaviour through a trial and error process in which the free parameters encode the control rules which regulate the fine-grained interaction between the robot and the environment and variations of the free parameters are retained or discarded on the basis of their effects at the level of the global behaviour exhibited by the robot situated in the environment. The obtained results demonstrate how the proposed methodology allows the robot to produce effective behaviours thanks to its ability …

The Lethal Injection Quandary: How Medicine Has Dismantled The Death Penalty, Deborah W. Denno

Fordham Law Review

On February 20, 2006, Michael Morales was hours away from execution in California when two anesthesiologists declined to participate in his lethal injection procedure, thereby halting all state executions. The events brought to the surface the long-running schism between law and medicine, raising the question of whether any beneficial connection between the professions ever existed in the execution context. History shows it seldom did. Decades of botched executions prove it. This Article examines how states ended up with such constitutionally vulnerable lethal injection procedures, suggesting that physician participation in executions, though looked upon with disdain, is more prevalent--and perhaps more …

The Restricted Gift Life Cycle, Or What Comes Around Goes Around, John K. Eason

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evidence And Ethics: Litigating In The Shadows Of The Rules, Joseph A. Colquitt

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Perplexing Problem Of Client Perjury, L. Timothy Perrin

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of Women’S Career Progression Decisions As A Significant Determinant Of The Under-Representation Of Women At Senior Management Levels In Ireland, Christine Cross

Theses

Recent decades have witnessed unprecedented changes both in the world economy and in the composition of workforces internationally, resulting in a significant rise in female economic activity rates. Women’s increased involvement in the labour force is, however, not paralleled within the management levels of organisations. The persistent nature of the dearth of women in executive roles provides the context for this study. The unique focus of this thesis is women in middle-level management positions, as managers at this level are viewed as successors to senior organisational roles. Thirty female managers were interviewed, from organisations representing a wide range of industry …

Characterization Of Stress Ulcer Model In Mice, Abeer Hamed Rubayea Hamed Aldhaheri

Theses

Stress ulcer is a common problem in critically ill patients. Recent statistics indicated that bleeding from stress ulcer is a common cause of death in patients admitted to intensive care units. Little is known about the cellular changes that occur in the gastric mucosa during stress ulcer formation. The aim of this study is to define the changes that occur in the mouse stomach during development of stress ulcer by using different microscopy techniques.

The cold-restraint mouse model of stress ulcer was used in this study. Mice of both sexes were restrained and maintained in a cold (4°C) room for …

Effects Of Soil Solarization On Seed Viability Of Serious Weeds Of Crops In The Uae, Fatema Khalil Al-Hammadi

Theses

The efficacy of solarization in weed control under field conditions of the united Arabs Emirates (UAE} was evaluated by conducting field experiments in a farm near Al-Ain. The soil of the farm was artificially infested with seeds of the following weeds: Amaranthus viridus, A. hybridus, Cenchrus ciliaris, Chenopodium murale, Launea mucronata, Malva parviflora, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Echinochloa colona, Portulaca oleracea, and Melilotus indica. The soil was plowed, rotovated to provide a smooth surface and divided into 12 raised plots, 10 x 1 m each: seven were solarized and five non-solarized. Soils …

The Effect Of The Size Of Pinning Centres On The Critical Current Density In High-Temperature Superconductors, Salama Bakhit Sowaidan Al-Neaimi

Theses

Superconductor materials that have no resistance to the flow of electricity are one of the last great frontiers of scientific discovery.

Superconductivity in these materials occurs particularly in the copper-oxide (CuO₂) planes. However, since these materials are type-II superconductors, magnetic fields can penetrate these materials in quantized amounts of flux called vortices without completely destroying superconductivity, but producing some resistance, due to vortex motion. In order to overcome the resistance problem, vortices must be pinned to prevent their motion and hence eliminate the resistance.

In this work study we have performed extensive numerical simulations to study the effect …

Leadership In Knowledge Sharing: Creating Value Through Collaboration, Thomas Menkhoff, Yue Wah Chay, Hans-Dieter Evers, Benjamin Loh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study aims to understand the antecedents of knowledge sharing behavior amongst tenant firms in Science and Technology Parks (STPs) which has been highlighted as a key factor for the development of an epistemic culture of innovation in STPs. Components of a model of knowledge management leadership with a focus on knowledge sharing and innovative value creation in STPs are developed inspired by the work of Nonaka, Nahapiet and Ghoshal, Guns and others. Collection of data on various relevant measures is ongoing, covering technology firms and STPs in Singapore and other Asian countries. Besides outlining model components and hypotheses, tentative …

An Analysis Of Lean Management Procedures In The Irish Audi And Volkswagen Dealer Network, Clive Atkinson

Theses

This study provides an analysis of lean management procedures within Irish motor retailers from the perspective of senior managers working in franchised Audi and Volkswagen dealerships. Richardson (2007) suggests the danger for some organisations operating in good economic conditions is the ability of poor performers to earn healthy profits through little effort, thereby creating a lack of urgency to improve processes within the business. This may be applicable to motor dealerships in Ireland since the advent of the “Celtic Tiger”. Advocates of lean management contend the implementation of lean techniques can increase efficiency within an organisation and create a sustainable …

The Potential For Biomass In Ireland., Sarah J. Corcoran

Theses

It is not an understatement to say that a global crisis is approaching and at an alarming pace. It is a widely accepted fact that within the next few years, a change is going to take place. The sources we currently rely on to power our economies are already in an alarmingly depleted state, there is a necessity to find a new source or sources of energy. In addition to this, the global consequences of our past actions on the environment are also coming to the front, with climate change and ozone depletion making international headlines on an almost daily …