Digital Commons Network^™

Six Clicks Of Separation: The Legal Ramifications Of Employers Using Social Networking Sites To Research Applicants, Ian Byrnside

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

As social networking sites like Facebook.com and MySpace.com continue to grow in popularity, college students and other job applicants voluntarily divulge an increasing amount of personal information on them, often unaware of the potential negative effects it may have on their search for employment. Employers are beginning to take note of this trend and are increasingly using applicants' social networking profiles to supplement traditional application information. Many applicants feel that employers should not base employment decisions on social networking profiles in any way and believe that it is illegal for employers to do so. Yet, it appears that employers that …

The Fair Use Doctrine And Trackjacking: Beautiful Animal Or Destroyer Of Worlds?, S. Wayne Clemons, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

"Trackjacking" is the unauthorized replacement of the original soundtrack of an audiovisual recording, such as a movie or television show, with another that is designed to alter substantially the plot and/or characters of the original work. While trackjacking is a creative and entertaining form of art, it may also constitute copyright infringement if the original work is one that is copyrighted. However, if certain criteria are met, the "fair use" doctrine provides a mechanism for courts to excuse what otherwise would be considered copyright infringement. Because the unique nature of trackjacking allows the new work to be distributed in such …

Wringing Songwriters Dry: Negative Consequences Of Compulsory Licensing For Ringtones, Daniel H. Mark

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

On October 16, 2006, the United States Copyright Office concluded in a Memorandum Opinion (the Ringtone Opinion) that, subject to certain caveats, the Copyright Act's § 115 statutory license applies to ringtones. The Copyright Office concluded that ringtones (including monophonic and polyphonic ringtones, as well as mastertones) are phonorecords, and deliveries of ringtones by wire or wireless transmission constitute digital phonorecord deliveries subject to compulsory licensing under § 115.2

In the Ringtone Opinion, the Copyright Office provided a testto determine whether a particular ringtone will qualify for thestatutory compulsory license under § 115. The opinion noted that...

"whether a particular …

A Healthy Solution For Patients And Patents: How India's Legal Victory Against A Pharmaceutical Giant Reconciles Human Rights With Intellectual Property Rights, Sara B. Myers

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The Swiss drug company Novartis challenged India's status as the "Pharmacy of the Developing World" when it initiated a lawsuit against the Indian government on February 15, 2007. In 2005, India updated its Patents Act to comply with the World Trade Organization's (WTO) intellectual property requirements. Before 2005, India only granted patents to processes, not products, which facilitated the development of the country's booming generic drug industry. On January 25, 2006, India's Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks denied Novartis's patent application for its cancer-fighting drug Glivec on the grounds that it was not substantially different …

An Intellectual Property Food Fight: Why Copyright Law Should Embrace Culinary Innovation, J. Austin Broussard

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In the United States, dining has become an increasingly popular form of leisure and entertainment, generating an estimated $537 billion in 2007. However, dining represents only one aspect of the modern food economy; cooking and dining are regularly featured in newspapers and magazines, while celebrity chefs tout their own brands on television. Eating has been transformed from a mere perfunctory activity into big business. Increasing competition for the attention and money of restaurant patrons has prompted chefs of grande cuisine to differentiate their menus by creating unique dishes. The time and labor that chefs sink into this form of innovation …

The Virginia Judicial System: Organization And Structure, W. Clark Williams Jr.

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Modeling, Analysis And Experimentation For Building Ice Parts With Supports Using Rapid Freeze Prototyping, Frances D. Bryant

Doctoral Dissertations

"Rapid Freeze Prototyping (RFP) is a freeform fabrication method that freezes water droplets into ice in a layer-by-layer manner to additively create a 3-dimensional part. Each layer of a geometry is deposited and allowed to freeze before the next layer is added. Ice parts produced by RFP can be used in investment casting to replace wax patterns and in other applications which may benefit from the unconventional method of using ice as a pattern or mold. More recently, a sacrificial support material has been incorporated into RFP so that over-hung areas and complex geometries can be fabricated. The research presented …

Business-Oriented Software Process Improvement Based On Cmm And Cmmi Using Qfd, Yan Sun

Doctoral Dissertations

"Software Process Improvement (SPI) has become the key to the survival of many software development organizations. Many international SPI models/standards are developed for SPI. The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI)) from the Software Engineering Institute are two SPI models. In this study, several existing SPI models and approaches are reviewed, their advantages are identified, and their drawbacks are discussed. A set of new SPI frameworks integrating Quality Function Deployment (QFD) with both CMM and CMMI are developed by combining the best features of previous approaches and addressing their limitations"--Abstract, page iii.

Modeling And Simulations Of Diphasic Composites For Development Of High Energy Density Dielectrics, Sandeep K. Patil

Doctoral Dissertations

"This research is focused on diphasic dielectric composites for high energy density storage applications in pulsed power and power distribution systems. Composite materials are particularly attractive because they can synergistically combine high permittivity with high breakdown strength of the individual phases. Energy density, which captures permittivity and dielectric breakdown strength as vital material parameters, dominates this research challenge. Avenues for increasing the effective permittivity and breakdown strength may be found by gaining fundamental understanding of the response of diphasic dielectrics to an applied electric field. Improved understanding of these characteristics will ultimately lead to dielectrics with increased energy storage densities. …

Ceramic Variability And Cultural Diversity In The Northern San Juan Region, Janet Hagopian, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

The Northern San Juan region during the Pueblo I period has been subdivided into eastern and western groups based on differences in site structure and organization. Ceramic assemblages from across the Northern San Juan region also vary significantly. This poster uses both stylistic and technological traits to examine ceramic variability between Animas- La Plata sites and contemporary sites from the surrounding Northern San Juan region. The ceramics suggest at least three regionalized traditions, implying a greater degree of cultural diversity than previously suspected.

Alejandro Amenábar And The Embodiment Of Skepticism In ​Abre Los Ojos​, David Laraway

Faculty Publications

For most philosophers of the Anglo-American tradition, the problem of radical skepticism and its variants - i.e., the possibility that I could be massively mistaken in my beliefs about the external world, other minds, and even myself - no longer has the cachet itonce did. Although itmaintains a respectable place in contemporary epistemology it is clearly on the periphery of the discipline and no longer claims the attention once devoted to it by philosophers of the stature of Descartes, Hume, and Kant. Pride of place now goes, rather, to the task of naturalizing epistemology, which seeks to interpret questions about …

Abortion, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, And Waste, David A. Jensen

Faculty Publications

Can one consistently deny the permissibility of abortion while endorsing the killing of human embryos for the sake of stem cell research? The question is not trivial; for even if one accepts that abortion is prima facie wrong in all cases, there are significant differences with many of the embryos used for stem cell research from those involved in abortion—most prominently, many have been abandoned in vitro, and appear to have no reasonably likely meaningful future. On these grounds one might think to maintain a strong position against abortion but endorse killing human embryos for the sake of stem cell …

Human Reproductive Cloning And Reasons For Deprivation, David A. Jensen

Faculty Publications

Human reproductive cloning provides the possibility of genetically related children for persons for whom present technologies are ineffective. I argue that the desire for genetically related children is not, by itself, a sufficient reason to engage in human reproductive cloning. I show this by arguing that the value underlying the desire for genetically related children implies a tension between the parent and the future child. This tension stems from an instance of a deprivation and violates a general principle of reasons for deprivation. Alternative considerations, such as a right to procreative autonomy, do not appear helpful in making the case …

Foreword To Abortion Under State Constitutions: A State-By-State Analysis, Ronald D. Rotunda

Law Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Foreword to Paul Benjamin Linton's "Abortion Under State Constitutions: A State-by-State Analysis".

Introduction To Mass Communication, Steelman Library, Robert Scott Dr.

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Harvester Ant Nests Improve Recovery Performance Of Drought Impacted Vegetation In Grazing Regimes Of Semiarid Savanna, Texas, Nancy Nicolai, Fred Smeins, Jerry Cook

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Vegetation composition is often dictated by grazing intensity in semiarid savannas; recovery following drought may depend on pre drought species composition. Nests of the red harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus, affect the dynamics, composition and recovery of post drought communities due to their larger size, greater seed production and higher perennial grass richness. We hypothesized that vegetation at ant nests would survive drought and recover faster than vegetation in the surrounding grasslands, but that individual and population recovery would depend on plant species composition, which, in turn, would be influenced by grazing intensity. We assessed nest influence on density, cover, …

Photography, Steelman Library, Chad Neuman

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Micronutrient Fortification On Nutritional And Other Properties Of Nixtamal Tortillas, K. E. Burton, Frost M. Steele, Laura K. Jefferies, Oscar A. Pike, Michael L. Dunn

Faculty Publications

Nixtamalization is the process of steeping dried corn in hot water with calcium hydroxide (lime) with subsequent removal of all or most of the pericarp through washing. The resulting product is called nixtamal. Approximately 60% of corn tortillas in Mexico are produced from nixtamal, with the remainder prepared from nixtamalized corn flour. Nixtamal was fortified with micronutrient premix containing iron, zinc, folic acid, niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin. Premix composition followed a proposed Mexican regulation for corn flour fortification, adjusted for moisture. Effects of premix on masa adhesiveness, hardness, and pH, as well as tortilla sensory properties, stretchability, rollability, and color …

Sophistication, Bridging The Gap, And The Likelihood Of Confusion: An Empirical And Theoretical Analysis, Glenn L. Christensen, Eric D. Derosia, Thomas R. Lee

Faculty Publications

Recent commentary has rightly lamented the uncertain state of the multifactor test for trademark infringement. “This heuristic device is the fulcrum of American trademark law,” yet the courts are in substantial disagreement as to which factors are relevant to an evaluation of the likelihood of confusion. The doctrinal divide is substantial: “Some circuits claim to weigh heavily under certain factors what other circuits claim to ignore, and nearly every factor or combination of factors has been called the ‘most important’ by one court or another.”

Enhancing Special Educators' Knowledge And Understanding Of Hiv/Aids, Mary Anne Prater, Nancy M. Sileo, Thomas W. Sileo

Faculty Publications

HIV/AIDS continues to spread among children, youth, and young adults across all racial, ethnic, and cultural populations, including those with disabilities. This article considers information on HIV/AIDS such as individuals' health-risk behaviors, environmental circumstances, and perceptions that may contribute to HIV-infection; how disability characteristics, and cultural traits and values impact school-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs; and, culturally competent instructional considerations that acknowledge these variables.

Enzymatic Processing Of Amelogenin During Continuous Crystallization Of Apatite, Vuk Uskoković, M.-K. Kim, W. Li, S. Habelitz

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Dental enamel forms through a protein-controlled mineralization and enzymatic degradation with a nanoscale precision that new engineering technologies may be able to mimic. Recombinant fulllength human amelogenin (rH174) and a matrix-metalloprotease (MMP-20) were employed in a pHstat titration system that enabled a continuous supply of calcium and phosphate ions over several days, mimicking the initial stages of matrix processing and crystallization in enamel in-vitro. Effects on the self-assembly and crystal growth from a saturated aqueous solution containing 0.4 mg/ml rH174 and MMP-20 with the weight ratio of 1:1000 with respect to rH174 were investigated. A transition from nanospheres to fibrous …

Impact Of Agricultural Productivity Changes On Agricultural Exports, Ananda Bahadur Gurung

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

This study uses linear programming and econometric tools to determine the impact of agricultural productivity (technology) on agricultural exports. The study determines total factor productivity (TFP) using the Malmquist index method for a panel of 64 countries. Productivity impact on exports is determined by a two-stage estimation procedure. The results show agricultural productivity affects agricultural exports. This has important implications for developing countries. A 1 unit change in cumulative TFP increases agricultural output by .79% and a 1% increase in estimated agricultural output increases exports by .37%. Therefore, the total effect of technology on exports of primary and processed commodities …

Evaluating Group Use Of The Information Commons, Michael J. Whitchurch

Faculty Publications

Evaluating the effectiveness of an information commons has been discussed in many venues since the concept was first implemented. The Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University confronted this same struggle. After two years of activity, the information commons had not been assessed to see whether the purposes for which it was planned were being fulfilled. This paper describes its first assessment. Measuring the number of groups who used the information commons over the period of two years, the assessment showed that indeed the commons is being used to a great extent for group work, one of the goals …

Naipaul’S Children: Representations Of Humor And Ruin In Miguel Street, Aaron Eastley

Faculty Publications

The piece had originally appeared in the Demerara Daily Argosy in neighboring British Guiana, and was contributed by a writer who signed himself simply as "Clarence" ("Immigration"9). Under the subheading "UNJUST TO IMMIGRANTS" Clarence argues that abolishing the system of indentured labor, which brought a recorded 141,615 immigrant workers from India to Trinidad between 1845 and 1917 (Weller 151-3), would be "an act of veiled cruelty to the immigrants themselves" ("Immigration 9). He credits the system with keeping immigrants under skilled care and supervision until they ha[ve] learned how to live under the new conditions" of life in the West …

“The Mormon Education Of A Gentile Justice: George Sutherland And Brigham Young Academy”, Edward L. Carter, James C. Phillips

Faculty Publications

Even within the eclectic group of men and women who have sat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Associate Justice George Sutherland (1922-38) was truly one of a kind: The only Justice ever to come from the state of Utah, he grew up as a non-Mormon in a cloistered 19th century Mormon society—and yet he rose to become one of the community’s most popular and even beloved political figures. As a lawyer, Sutherland defended Mormon men charged with “unlawful cohabitation” for polygamous lifestyles—and yet as a U.S. Senator he championed women’s rights, including suffrage. As one of the so-called “Four Horsemen …

Deictic Selves And Others In Pastaza Quichua Evidential Usage, Janis B. Nuckolls

Faculty Publications

This article clarifies the perspectival, deictic nature of evidentiality in Pastaza Quichua, a dialect of Quechua spoken in Amazonian Ecuador. I examine the discourse patterning of what have been called the direct and in direct experience morphemes and argue that a source-based characterization of these morphemes cannot be supported by the data. Using insights from liana Mushin's notion of epistemological stance, I outline the Quechua evidential system, identifying perspectives that may be divided into three main categories: the speaking self of a speech event, the speaking self of a narrated event, and a variety of stances that may categorized by …

Effects Of Friendship In Transactions In An Emerging Market: Empirical Evidence From Brazil, Wesley Mendes-Da-Silva, Thaís Fernanda Salves De Brito, Rubens Famá, Jonathan T. Liljegren

Faculty Publications

This paper considers the inclusion of human behavioral aspects and implications of cognitive psychology and anthropology in decisions relating to the emerging field of behavioral finance. The formulated hypotheses were tested using 400 questionnaires, answered by students enrolled in MBA programs. The principal results suggest that individuals involved in transactions among friends or among strangers assume different behaviors—friends agree about the price attributed to an asset, while strangers show the propensity to bargain.

Employing Adaptive Structuring As A Cognitive Decision Aid In High Reliability Organizations, Karlene H. Roberts, Kuo Frank Yu, Vinit M. Desai, Peter Madsen

Faculty Publications

The article begins by discussing processes contributing to high and low reliability decision making. It then discusses three cases, covering similar processes used in the three situations and notes what managers can take from this. Finally, the article argues for research that does not concentrate on a single organization but examines interactions among geographically distributed units addressing the same problem.

Perception And Awareness Of Accents In Young Children, C Floccia, F Girard, J Goslin

School of Psychology

This study examines children's metaphonological awareness for accent-related information in connected speech. In the first experiment, 5- to 6-year-old French-speaking children were asked to discriminate between Southern and Northern accented French in a sentence categorization task. It was found that these children were not able to reliably distinguish between these native variations of their own language, but were able to distinguish between their own accent and a strong foreign accent in Experiment 2. These findings were also replicated using a speaker discrimination task in Experiment 3, where children were asked to detect pairs of speakers sharing the same accent amongst …

Interrupted Vs. Uninterrupted Training On Bmd During Growth, B. M. Goettsch, M. Z. Smith, J. A. O'Brien, G. V. Gomez, S. V. Jaque, Ken D. Sumida

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

This study compared a resistance training program where the exercise was uninterrupted (UT, i.e., continuous repetitions) against a resistance training program where the exercise was interrupted (IT, i.e., 3 exercise sessions during a training day) for enhancing bone modeling and bone mineral density (BMD) in maturating animals. The total volume of work performed between the two resistance training programs was equivalent by design. 24 young male rats were randomly divided into Control (Con, n = 8), UT (n = 8) and IT (n=8) resistance trained groups. The UT and IT groups were conditioned to climb a vertical ladder with weights …