Digital Commons Network^™

Wrongly Accused Redux: How Race Contributes To Convicting The Innocent: The Informants Example, Andrew E. Taslitz

School of Law Faculty Publications

This article analyzes five forces that may raise the risk of convicting the innocent based upon the suspect's race: the selection, ratchet, procedural justice, bystanders, and aggressive-suspicion effects. In other words, subconscious forces press police to focus more attention on racial minorites, the ratchet makes this focus every-increasing, the resulting sense by the community of unfair treatment raises its involvment in crime while lowering its willingness to aid the police in resisting crime, innocent persons suffer when their skin color becomes associated with criminality, and the police use more aggressive techniques on racial minorities in a way that raises the …

On Zeitgeist, James Sham

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration into the possibilities and repercussions of articulating zeitgeist, that is, the spirit of our current age. The parameters and ramifications of such a project are, in this writing, analyzed in reference to the notion of historicity, and the narrative gaze that it perpetuates. The mechanism of canonization, and a discourse's capacity to be viral are examined.

Rhythm, Grid And Collage: Building A Design Business Incubator, Robert David Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The idea of rhythm as applied to interior space is the basis for this thesis. The site is an old warehouse with a structure that contains a repetitive rhythm in the form of a columnar grid and a corresponding fenestration pattern, yet the building also has an atypical wedge shape. The program is a design business incubator, a place where design business startups, recent graduates of Virginia design programs, can begin their design careers and find their rhythm in a cooperative and supportive environment, a collage of design businesses, if you will. Rhythm is essential in our lives, from the …

Integrating Nature Into Urban Educational Environments, Caroline Anne Davenport

Theses and Dissertations

Urban educational environments struggle to offer green space and natural light to their students. Studies have shown that exposure to natural elements, such as natural light, ventilation and vegetation improves student performance and concentration. The Waldorf School understands a child's innate need for natural learning; making it a natural choice when studying design options that integrating nature into the educational environment. The emphasis on nature based learning in the curriculum leads Waldorf to be the perfect school to test the boundaries of what is possible in urban educational environments. The project integrates nature into an urban adaptive re-use school environment, …

Properties And Recent Applications In Spectral Graph Theory, Michelle L. Rittenhouse

Theses and Dissertations

There are numerous applications of mathematics, specifically spectral graph theory, within the sciences and many other fields. This paper is an exploration of recent applications of spectral graph theory, including the fields of chemistry, biology, and graph coloring. Topics such as the isomers of alkanes, the importance of eigenvalues in protein structures, and the aid that the spectra of a graph provides when coloring a graph are covered, as well as others.The key definitions and properties of graph theory are introduced. Important aspects of graphs, such as the walks and the adjacency matrix are explored. In addition, bipartite graphs are …

Public School Choice And Integration: Evidence From Durham, North Carolina, Robert Bifulco, Helen F. Ladd, Stephen Ross

Center for Policy Research

Using evidence from Durham, North Carolina, we examine the impact of school choice programs on racial and class-based segregation across schools. Theoretical considerations suggest that how choice programs affect segregation will depend not only on the family preferences emphasized in the sociology literature but also on the linkages between student composition, school quality and student achievement emphasized in the economics literature. Reasonable assumptions about the distribution of preferences over race, class, and school characteristics suggest that the segregating choices of students from advantaged backgrounds are likely to outweigh any integrating choices by disadvantaged students. The results of our empirical analysis …

Students Ranking, Based On Their Abilities On Objective Type Test: Comparison Of Ctt And Irt, Amir Zaman, Atiq-Ur-Rehman Kashmiri, Mamoon Mubarak, Arshad Ali

EDU-COM International Conference

The focus of this paper is to investigate the idea of differential ability for students ranking on a multiple choice test in the subject of physics at secondary level. The weakness of Classical Test Theory (CTT) in measuring the ability with continuity and consequently its ranking ability of students on the basis of ability has been highlighted in this paper. In CTT, a student attempting a difficult question and an easy question get equal credit which is not the case in Item Response Theory (IRT). Moreover in CTT two students with equal raw score have the same ranking while in …

Table Of Contents

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

Who Is Reading The Data On Your Old Computer?, Vivienne Mee

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Researchers at Rits Information Security performed a study in how the Irish population disposes of their old computers. How would you dispose of your old computer, or how would the company you work for dispose of their old computers?

The majority of Irish homeowners, would bring their old computers to local civic amenity centres, give it away to a relative or sell it on to another party.

Some organisations would give their old equipment to a staff member, as a gift gesture, others may simply discard in the local civic amenity site.

What is wrong with the methods currently being …

Trends In Virtualized User Environments, Diane Barrett

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Virtualized environments can make forensics investigation more difficult. Technological advances in virtualization tools essentially make removable media a PC that can be carried around in a pocket or around a neck. Running operating systems and applications this way leaves very little trace on the host system. This paper will explore all the newest methods for virtualized environments and the implications they have on the world of forensics. It will begin by describing and differentiating between software and hardware virtualization. It will then move on to explain the various methods used for server and desktop virtualization. Next, it will explain how …

A Knowledge Management Initiative In A Juvenile Detention School, Noel Sweeney

Dissertations

The preservation of knowledge has been a human endeavour since the dawn of time. Using whatever resources possible, humans have recorded knowledge for the purpose of bequeathing it to the next generations. With each technological advance, it would appear that the resources available for recording knowledge have improved. Not only this, but with each advance, the accessibility and availability to this knowledge has been enhanced; and in our present times, the impact of technology has made it easier than ever before. As with education, the consequence of making knowledge more available and accessible is the creation of more knowledgeable individuals …

Andrill’S Education And Outreach Programme 2005‑2008: Mis And Sms Project Activities During The 4th Ipy, L. T. Huffman, Richard Levy, Laura Lacy, D. M. Harwood, M. Berg, M. Cattadori, J. Diamond, J. Dooley, L. Dahlman, R. Frisch-Gleason, J. Hubbard, R. Lehmann, K. Mankoff, V. Miller, K. Pound, F. R. Rack, G. Scotto Di Clemente, A. Seigmund, J. Thomson, E. Trummel, R. Williams, Andrill-Mis Science Team, Andrill-Sms Science Team

ANDRILL Research and Publications

A key goal of the ANDRILL programme’s education and outreach (E&O) activities was to engage the public in, and inform it about, our scientific endeavour to uncover the behavior of Antarctica’s ice sheets over the past 20 million years. We recognized that a critical component of ANDRILL’s research effort was to ensure that our motivation, methods, and results were conveyed to non-experts in a clear and understandable manner. This effort benefited from several factors: a synergy between scientists and educators generated by the 4^th International Polar Year (IPY); the allure of the Antarctic region as one of Earth’s few …

The Changing Faces Of Women's Colleges: Striking A Balance Between Transgender Rights And Women's Colleges' Right To Exclude, Cathy Perifimos

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note explores the tension between women's colleges' traditional mission of providing single-sex education and the rights of transgender students, arguing for the need to balance these interests through clear policies and legal frameworks.

Data Recovery From Palmmsgv001, Satheesaan Pasupatheeswaran

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Both SMS and MMS data analysis is an important factor in mobile forensic analysis. Author did not find any mobile forensic tool that is capable of extracting short messages (SMS) and multimedia messages (MMS) from Palm Treo 750. SMS file of Palm Treo 750 is called PalmMgeV001 and it is a proprietary file system. A research work done to find a method to recover SMS data from PalmMsgV001 file. This paper is going to describe the research work and its findings. This paper also discusses a methodology that will help recover SMS data from PalmMsgV001. The PalmMsgV001 file is analysed …

Extraction And Categorisation Of User Activity From Windows Restore Points, Damir Kahvedžić, Tahar Kechadi

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The extraction of the user activity is one of the main goals in the analysis of digital evidence. In this paper we present a methodology for extracting this activity by comparing multiple Restore Points found in the Windows XP operating system. The registry copies represent a snapshot of the state of the system at a certain point in time. Differences between them can reveal user activity from one instant to another. The algorithms for comparing the hives and interpreting the results are of high complexity. We develop an approach that takes into account the nature of the investigation and the …

Steganography: Forensic, Security, And Legal Issues, Merrill Warkentin, Ernst Bekkering, Mark B. Schmidt

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Steganography has long been regarded as a tool used for illicit and destructive purposes such as crime and warfare. Currently, digital tools are widely available to ordinary computer users also. Steganography software allows both illicit and legitimate users to hide messages so that they will not be detected in transit. This article provides a brief history of steganography, discusses the current status in the computer age, and relates this to forensic, security, and legal issues. The paper concludes with recommendations for digital forensics investigators, IT staff, individual users, and other stakeholders.

Evidence For God From Certainty, Katherin A. Rogers

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Visual Language Representation For Use Case Evolution And Traceability, Coretta Willis Douglas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary goal of this research is to assist non-technical stakeholders involved in requirements engineering with a comprehensible method for managing changing requirements within a specific domain. An important part of managing evolving requirements over time is to maintain a temporal ordering of the changes and to support traceability of the modifications. This research defines a semi-formal syntactical and semantic definition of such a method using a visual language, RE/TRAC (Requirements Evolution with Traceability), and a supporting formal semantic notation RE/TRAC-SEM. RE/TRAC-SEM is an ontological specification employing a combination of models, including verbal definitions, set theory and a string language …

Land Use And Water Quality Characterization Of Boeuf Basin, La, Joseph Wesley Leblanc

LSU Master's Theses

The three primary goals of this project were to establish the ambient background of water quality in the Lake Boeuf basin in southeast Louisiana; establish land use patterns in the basin and the relation to water quality; and develop a preliminary plan to improve water quality through the use of best management practices and wetland assimilation. Urban and agricultural acreage borders the basin and runoff from these lands forces loadings of nutrients into the adjacent canals where they become channelized and ultimately exit the Boeuf Basin into Lac des Allemandes. From September 2007 until February 2008, water sampling occurred monthly …

Failure-Awareness And Dynamic Adaptation In Data Scheduling, Mehmet Balman

LSU Master's Theses

Over the years, scientific applications have become more complex and more data intensive. Especially large scale simulations and scientific experiments in areas such as physics, biology, astronomy and earth sciences demand highly distributed resources to satisfy excessive computational requirements. Increasing data requirements and the distributed nature of the resources made I/O the major bottleneck for end-to-end application performance. Existing systems fail to address issues such as reliability, scalability, and efficiency in dealing with wide area data access, retrieval and processing. In this study, we explore data-intensive distributed computing and study challenges in data placement in distributed environments. After analyzing different …

Late Quaternary Geochronologic, Stratigraphic, And Sedimentologic Framework Of The Trinity River Incised Valley: East Texas Coast, Matthew Gene Garvin

LSU Master's Theses

Optically stimulated luminescence dates from the last glacial period falling–stage and lowstand Deweyville deposits along the Trinity River valley in Texas provided insight to their timing of deposition and allogenic controls on fluvial processes. Three distinguishable periods of incision and lateral channelbelt migration were the effect of both lowered sea levels and climate controlling factors within the drainage basin. Valley widening and deposition of the High, Middle, and Low Deweyville units were constructed and subsequently preserved as fluvial terraces during oxygen isotope stages (OIS) 3 through 2, from 65–32.5 ka, 32.5–23 ka, and 23–16 ka respectively. Although numerous workers using …

An Investigation Into The Implementation Of The Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum Reading/English Language Arts In Selected First Grade Classrooms, Mary "Kitty" Taylor Ainsworth

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This case study investigates the implementation of the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum English Language Arts in selected first grade classes. The teaching of the specific language arts skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as directed the the Comprehensive Curriculum is examined. Four first grade teachers from a large urban school district, from an original sixteen first grade teachers, are observed during the hour and a half literacy instruction block once a week over a period of four weeks. These same four teachers are interviewed one-on-one by the researcher during the two interview sessions. Three themes developed throughout the observation from all …

Student Satisfaction And Performance In An Online Teacher Certification Program, Heidi Schweizer, Carrianne H. Hayslett, Sharon Katherine Kayne Chaplock

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

The article presents a study which demonstrates the effectiveness of an online post baccalaureate teacher certification program developed by a Wisconsin university. The case method approach employing multiple methods and multiple data sources were used to investigate the degree to which pre-service teachers were prepared to teach. It was concluded that the study supports online delivery as an effective means of teacher preparation, but it was limited in the number of students followed into their first year of teaching.

Detecting Clusters And Outliers For Multi-Dimensional Data, Yong Shi

Faculty Articles

Nowadays many data mining algorithms focus on clustering methods. There are also a lot of approaches designed for outlier detection. We observe that, in many situations, clusters and outliers are concepts whose meanings are inseparable to each other, especially for those data sets with noise. Thus, it is necessary to treat clusters and outliers as concepts of the same importance in data analysis. In this paper, we present a cluster-outlieriterative detection algorithm, tending to detect the clusters and outliers in another perspective for noisy data sets. In this algorithm, clusters are detected and adjusted according to the intra-relationship within clusters …

Data Exploration By Using The Monotonicity Property, Hongyi Chen

LSU Master's Theses

Dealing with different misclassification costs has been a big problem for classification. Some algorithms can predict quite accurately when assuming the misclassification costs for each class are the same, like most rule induction methods. However, when the misclassification costs change, which is a common phenomenon in reality, these algorithms are not capable of adjusting their results. Some other algorithms, like the Bayesian methods, have the ability to yield probabilities of a certain unclassified example belonging to given classes, which is helpful to make modification on the results according to different misclassification costs. The shortcoming of such algorithms is, when the …

Segmented Field Electron Conformal Therapy Planning Algorithm, David Jaquet Perrin

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: Segmented-field electron conformal therapy (SFECT) is rarely used, or if used, used sub optimally, primarily due to inadequate tools for its planning. The development of SFECT planning tools could help begin to bring electron therapy to the same level of sophistication as x-ray and proton therapy, resulting in greater consideration by radiation oncologists. The purpose of this work was to develop a forward planning algorithm that will improve segmentation of the SFECT treatment field. It was hypothesized that a forward planning algorithm can produce segmented-field ECT fields that improve dose conformity as the number of beam energies is increased …

Analysis Of Gas Dynamic Waves In Explosively Actuated Valves, Blaise H. Paul

LSU Master's Theses

A mathematical model is formulated for assessing quasi-one-dimensional gas dynamics occurring within axis-symmetric explosively actuated valves. The model describes complete valve operation and accounts for pressure-dependent explosive combustion within an actuator, compressible product gas flow within the actuator, through a small port, and into and within a gas expansion chamber. The gas dynamic waves induce piston motion at the terminal end of the expansion chamber which is needed for valve operation. The model is mathematically posed as an initial-boundary-value problem in terms of generalized coordinates to facilitate numerical computations on a domain that volumetrically expands due to combustion and piston …

The Mathematical In Heidegger And Badiou, Dylan Armstrong Wade

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis I am tracing the historical development of subjectivity from its skeptical foundation in Descartes to Alain Badiou’s subject as fidelity to truth. Drawing from Martin Heidegger’s What is a Thing?, this history begins with the turn from an Aristotelian to a Newtonian apprehension of motion, turning towards an a priori mathematical projection of spatial uniformity, such that there are no longer different places – only quantifiable distance. It is on the basis of this turning away from tradition, or ordinary experience of different phenomena, that Descartes posits the self-certain I-pole. Heidegger criticizes modernity, defined as the merging …

Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Stream Water Chemistry In A Headwater Catchment Of Central Louisiana, April Bryantmason

LSU Master's Theses

One of the dominant themes of stream water quality research has been the effect of nutrients and organic materials on eutrophication of coastal waters. Despite this prevalence in water quality research, few studies have been conducted on water quality changes in low-gradient watersheds under a humid, warm subtropical climate, such as those in the coastal plains of the Northern Gulf of Mexico. This study addresses: (1) the nutrient conditions in headwater streams of a low-gradient, subtropical watershed, especially as it relates to the suggested criteria by the Environtmental Protection Agency (EPA), (2) organic and inorganic carbon dynamics in the headwaters …

A Multi-Scale Assessment Of Den Selection Of Louisiana Black Bears (Ursus Americanus Luteolus) In Northern And Central Louisiana, Annelie Crook Crook

LSU Master's Theses

Understanding den selection for the Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) may provide insight into habitat requirements of the subspecies and assist in conservation and management efforts. With that goal, I assessed den selection of female Louisiana black bears at multiple spatial scales in northern and central Louisiana. I used 230 den-years to examine den type (tree or ground), microhabitat characteristics at dens, and effects of landscape characteristics on den selection. We also evaluated tree availability and reuse. Solitary and parturient females selected tree dens more frequently (65%) than ground dens. However, tree dens were not required for successful denning …