Digital Commons Network^™

Hiding In Plain Sight? Timing And Transparency In The Administrative State, Anne Joseph O'Connell, Jacob Gersen

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

Anecdotal evidence of agencies burying bad news is rife in law and politics. The bureaucracy regularly is accused of announcing controversial policies on holidays and weekends when public attention is elsewhere. We show that this conventional wisdom is wrong, or at least significantly incomplete. The conventional wisdom is riddled with theoretical holes, and there is little systematic empirical evidence to support it. After critiquing the conventional account of agencies hiding bad news, we articulate and defend a revised theory of strategic timing in administrative law. We argue that timing decisions rarely affect the visibility of decisions but can drive up …

Pulmonary Vasoconstrictor Reactivity Following Intermittent Hypoxia, Jessica Snow

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Sleep apnea (SA) affects as many as 20% of the adult population in the United States. It elicits intermittent hypoxia (IH) and causes pulmonary hypertension (PH), however the mechanisms of this PH have not been well studied. IH has been shown to cause polycythemia, pulmonary vascular remodeling and increases in vasoconstrictor reactivity. CO2 supplementation may be protective in the development of PH, therefore we assessed effects of IH with and without CO2 supplementation on indices of PH and pulmonary vasoconstrictor reactivity. IH with CO2 supplementation resulted in eucapnic IH (E-IH) and the lack of polycythemia or vascular remodeling. However, E-IH …

Decreased Functional Connectivity With Aging And Disease Duration In Schizophrenia, Christopher Abbott

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Objective: Progressive brain changes late in the disease course of schizophrenia may be detected with functional connectivity. This study compared functional connectivity between patients with schizophrenia late in the disease course with matched healthy controls.

Method: Subjects included 18 patients with schizophrenia with minimum 15 years disease duration and 28 matched healthy controls from the MIND Clinical Imaging Consortium database. The functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm was the auditory oddball task. We used independent components analysis to identify temporally cohesive but spatially distributed neural networks. We selected the executive control and default mode networks for additional analysis. The temporal course …

Adult Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells In Response To Their Microenvironment: Proliferation, Differentiation, And Migration, Basam Z. Barkho

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

The plasticity of adult neural stem/progenitor cells allows a differential response to a variety of environmental cues. Over the past decade, significant research efforts have been devoted into understanding the regulation of neural stem/progenitor cells due to their promising potential for cell replacement therapies in adult neurological diseases. It has been demonstrated that after brain injury both endogenous and grafted neural stem/progenitor cells have the ability to proliferate to expand their number, migrate long distances to the lesioned site and differentiate into new specific neurons to replace the ones that have been lost. All these procedure are regulated by extrinsic …

China’S Evolving “Double-Track” Socio-Legal System In Conflict Resolution, Jieli Li

Peace and Conflict Studies

Contemporary China's sociolegal control system is built upon a unique organizational arrangement which differs not only from other countries in the world but also from its own past. The very core of this organizational arrangement is what I define as a “double-track” socio-legality with laws and codified regulation mainly concentrated on economic and commercial sectors with the ruling party focusing its administrative control on political and ideological sectors. This institutional context is critical to understanding the nature of social control mechanism in China. The fact is that with all the laws and regulations promulgated in recent years, the newly developed …

Public Use, Public Choice, And The Urban Growth Machine: Competing Political Economies Of Takings Law, Daniel A. Lyons

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Kelo decision has unleashed a tidal wave of legislative reforms ostensibly seeking to control eminent domain abuse. But as a policy matter, it is impossible to determine what limits should be placed upon local government without understanding how cities grow and develop, and how local governments make decisions to shape the communities over which they preside. This Article examines takings through two very different models of urban political economy: public choice theory and the quasi-Marxist Urban Growth Machine model. These models approach takings from diametrically opposite perspectives, and offer differing perspectives at the margin regarding proper and improper condemnations. …

Unifying America: The Use Of American Propaganda During World War I, Maxwell Riley Woodcock

Communication Studies

This project offers a historical look at the Committee on Public Information (CPI), its leader George Creel, and the uses of propaganda in America during the First World War. The paper discusses Creel's role in creating a propaganda machine that influenced the beliefs of millions of Americans. The last section analyzes what critics thought of the American government after they propagandized the American people.

Finding Words In Alphabet Soup: Inference On Freeform Character Recognition For Historical Scripts, Nicholas Howe, Shaolei Feng, R. Manmatha

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

This paper develops word recognition methods for historical handwritten cursive and printed documents. It employs a powerful segmentation-free letter detection method based upon joint boosting with histograms of gradients as features. Efficient inference on an ensemble of hidden Markov models can select the most probable sequence of candidate character detections to recognize complete words in ambiguous handwritten text, drawing on character n" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: normal; font-size: 16.2px; word-spacing: normal; overflow-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; position: relative;">n-gram and physical …

Material Sustainability, Jessica Meadows, Natasha Morris

Architectural Engineering

This paper addresses the sustainability of the materials used to construct buildings today. Timber, concrete and steel are analyzed for carbon output, cost, and recyclable-ability.

Skeleton Weed In Western Australia, Pocket Guide, State Skeleton Weed Committee, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia, Agriculture Protection Board

Bulletins 4000 -

The Skeleton Weed Program is a coordinated approach to eradicating skeleton weed in Western Australia. It is run jointly by the State Skeleton Weed Committee, the Department of Agriculture and the Agriculture Protection Board. It is funded through the skeleton weed levy collected from grain growers each harvest, and pooled in the Skeleton Weed Eradication Trust Fund.

Skeleton weed is targeted as a declared plant as it can drastically reduce crop yields (more than 1 tonne/ha in cereals) by competing for moisture and nutrients, mainly nitrogen. Its wiry stems impede headers and the sticky latex they contain cause machinery to …

"Once Victim, Always Victim": Compensated Individuals Under The Amended Sentencing Guidelines On Fraud, Jacqueline Harrington

Michigan Law Review

Until recently, courts disagreed over whether individuals who were compensated by a third party such as a bank or insurance company ought to count as victims for purposes of the multiple-victim sentencing enhancement in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines on Fraud. The most recent Amendments to the Guidelines resolve this split, permitting compensated individuals to be counted as victims where their identity was used in the commission of the fraud. However, the new Guidelines do not resolve a separate split, likely to become more divisive under the new Guidelines, over whether both compensated individuals and their compensators can simultaneously be treated …

Impermissible Ratemaking In Health-Insurance Reform: Why The Reid Bill Is Unconstitutional, Richard A. Epstein

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Effect Of The Internet On Reading Fiction Books For Enjoyment And Potential Interest In The Integration Of The Two Media, Jessica S. Cole

Theses

As the Internet grows in popularity, interest in the potential harmful effects that it will have on other media increases. The current study assesses the impact that the Internet has had on the leisure reading of fiction books and attempts to determine whether integrating Internet features with fiction books increases the appeal of reading them. An online survey was completed by 162 college students, which measured reading rates, Internet use, preferred Internet and book features, as well as interest in reading books that integrate Internet features. Findings show no indication that the Internet has affected leisure reading rates, that the …

Graduation Day, Isaac Holze

Theses

This paper covers the making of the film Graduation Day and the aesthetic choices made along the way. Its focus is on the steps of the process and the obstacles each step created. Graduation Day is the story of student who has rapped his way through his final oral exam and is in danger of not graduating. He meets with his academic advisor and, through a rhythmic beat and speech pattern, convinces the advisor to see the fun in rapping. He eventually "steals" the cap and gown and goes on to graduation.

A Novel Phase Variation Mechanism In The Meningococcus Driven By A Ligand-Responsive Repressor And Differential Spacing Of Distal Promoter Elements, Stuart A. Hill, Matteo M.E. Metruccio, Eva Pigozzi, Davide Roncarati, Francesco Berlanda Scorza, Nathalie Norais, Vincenzo Scarlato, Isabel Delany

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Phase variable expression, mediated by high frequency reversible changes in the length of simple sequence repeats, facilitates adaptation of bacterial populations to changing environments and is frequently important in bacterial virulence. Here we elucidate a novel phase variable mechanism for NadA, an adhesin and invasin of Neisseria meningitidis. The NadR repressor protein binds to operators flanking the phase variable tract and contributes to the differential expression levels of phase variant promoters with different numbers of repeats likely due to different spacing between operators. We show that IHF binds between these operators, and may permit looping of the promoter, allowing interaction …

Raps Sheet, December 2009, Retirement Association Of Portland State

RAPS Sheet: Monthly Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Tigard-Tualatin School District Enrollment Forecast Update, 2010-11 To 2019-20, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Charles Rynerson, Vivian Siu

School District Enrollment Forecast Reports

This report presents the results of a demographic study conducted by the Portland State University Population Research Center (PRC). The study includes analysis of population, housing and enrollment trends affecting the District in recent years, estimates of the impacts of housing development on TTSD enrollment, and forecasts of districtwide and individual school enrollments for the 2010-11 to 2019-20 school years. The Tigard-Tualatin School District (TTSD) enrolled 12,467 students in Fall 2009, a decrease of 128 students (1.0 percent) from Fall 2008. The loss occurred at both the elementary and high school levels, with decreases of 88 students (1.5 percent) in …

New Limits On The Use Of Race In Public School Student Assignment Plans: Implications Of The Supreme Court's Decision In Parents Involved In Community Schools V. Seattle School District No. 1, 127 S. Ct. 2738 (2007), Rowan E. Themer

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

In many school districts throughout the nation, "white flight" has caused urban centers to have disproportionately high percentages of minority residents.  One way school officials have attempted to battle the growing problem of resegregation is the use of race-conscious student assignment plans designed to create a diverse student body.  In Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether school districts were permitted to classify students based upon race in order to achieve diversity.  The Court struck down the race-conscious assignment plans of two districts, prompting questions as to whether …

The Secret War In Laos: America's Time In South East Asia And Its Impacts, Michael Prokop

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Relationshiop Between Gender Inequality And Hiv/Aids In Africa, Nayree L. Sheldon

Social Sciences

This paper discusses the developmental and health issues of Eastern Africa in regards to the relationship between gender inequality and HIV/AIDS.

Tattoos: A Marked History, Audrey Porcella

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Lessons Learned In Public Image Management: An Examination Of Public Relations Strategies Employed By Public Agencies During Hurricane Katrina, Cassandra Keyse

Journalism

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August of 2005, many were left without shelter and in need of immediate federal assistance. This presented many public organizations with a crisis that they weren't properly prepared to respond to, both in the literal sense and in their public image management preparation. The United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Response Agency were two of these agencies that received criticism from the public and in the press about their lack of a timely response to the disaster. A content analysis of a local newspaper from New Orleans and …

Sim-Plete Feeding Trial, Kelsey Johnson

Animal Science

A. An internship with ENI will offer an opportunity to work in the field with horse owners, feeds, marketing, and nutrition. I will be assisting in the placement of a product in the field and evaluating response. It is the first step in evaluating if this product is an appropriate and marketable product.

B. The responsibilities will be to place a new equine feed product with 10-15 horse owners (approximately 30-45 horses) and measure customer response and potential marketability of the product. Including:

1. Delivery of the product
2. Creation of Questionnaires (one will be given before the owners begin feeding the …

Journal Of Food Law & Policy - Fall 2009, Journal Editors

Journal of Food Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

A Healthy Diet Of Preemption: The Power Of The Fda And The Battle Over Restricting High Fructose Corn Syrup From Food And Beverages Labeled 'Natural', Adam C. Schlosser

Journal of Food Law & Policy

America is unhealthy. America faces an obesity epidemic. The food consumed by Americans is making them fat. Americans, bombarded every single day by negative headlines like these, are becoming more and more health conscious. This newfound commitment to health is reflected in the food and beverages Americans purchase.

Microstructural Transformations And Kinetics Of High-Temperature Heterogeneous Gasless Reactions By High-Speed X-Ray Phase-Contrast Imaging, Robert V. Reeves, Jeremiah D.E. White, Eric M. Dufresne, Kamel Fezzaa, Steven F. Son, Arvind Varma, Alexander S. Mukasyan

Purdue Energetics Research Center Articles

Heterogeneous gasless reactive systems, including high-energy density metal-nonmetal compositions, have seen increasing study due to their various applications. However, owing to their high reaction temperature, short reaction time, and small scale of heterogeneity, investigation of their reaction mechanisms and kinetics is very difficult. In this study, microstructural changes and the kinetics of product layer growth in the W-Si system was investigated using a high-speed x-ray phase-contrast imaging technique. Using the Advanced Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory, this method allowed direct imaging of irreversible reactions in the W-Si reactive system at frame rates up to 36 000 frames per second …

Market Development Factors For American Travel To Kenya, Lele Gao

CFS Honors Program Undergraduate Theses

The Republic of Kenya gains growing popularity as a tourism destination which offers abundance tourism resources. However, to Americans who are the world’s top spenders in outbound international travel, Kenya is still not a popular travel destination. It is obvious that there is a huge room for Kenya to attract more US travelers. This research explored the attractiveness of Kenya for US travelers and examined the US tour wholesalers’ efforts on promoting the destination and their tour products. An analysis toward the visual contents and the “key words” used by the US tour wholesalers in promoting Kenya, as well as …

A Parallel Direct Solver For The Simulation Of Large-Scale Power/Ground Networks, Stephen Cauley, Venkataramanan Balakrishnan, Cheng-Kok Koh

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Reports

We present an algorithm for the fast and accurate simulation of power/ground mesh structures. Our method is a direct (non-iterative) approach for simulation based upon a parallel matrix inversion algorithm. Through the use of additional computational resources, this distributed computing technique facilitates the simulation of large-scale power/ground networks. In addition, the new dimension of flexibility provided by our algorithm allows for a more accurate analysis of power/ground mesh structures using RLC interconnect models. Specifically, we offer a method that employs a sparse approximate inverse technique to consider more reluctance coupling terms for increased accuracy of simulation. The inclusion of additional …

Camouflaging Timing Channels In Web Traffic, Sarah H. Sellke, Chih-Chun Wang, Saurabh Bagchi, Ness B. Shroff

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Reports

Web traffic accounts for more than half of Internet traffic today. Camouflaging covert timing channels in Web traffic would be advantageous for concealment. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of disguising network covert timing channels as HTTP traffic to avoid detection. Extensive research has shown that Internet traffic, including HTTP traffic, exhibits self-similarity and long range persistence. Existing covert timing channels that mimic i.i.d. legitimate traffic cannot imitate HTTP traffic because these covert traffic patterns are not long range dependent. The goal of this work is to design a covert timing channel that can be camouflaged as HTTP traffic. …

Teaching Business German Through Projects, Michael Hager

Global Business Languages

No abstract provided.