Digital Commons Network^™

Computational Techniques For Reducing Spectra Of The Giant Planets In Our Solar System, Holly L. Grimes

Dissertations and Theses

The dynamic atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune provide a rich source of meteorological phenomena for scientists to study. To investigate these planets, scientists obtain spectral images of these bodies using various instruments including the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS) at the Subaru Telescope Facility at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. These spectral images are two-dimensional arrays of double precision floating point values that have been read from a detector array. Such images must be reduced before the information they contain can be analyzed. The reduction process for spectral images from COMICS involves several steps:

1. Sky subtraction: the …

It’S Doom Alone That Counts: Can International Human Rights Law Be An Effective Source Of Rights In Correctional Conditions Litigation?, Michael L. Perlin, Henry A. Dlugacz

Articles & Chapters

Over the past three decades, the US judiciary has grown increasingly less receptive to claims by convicted felons about the conditions of their confinement while in prison. Although courts have not articulated a return to the 'hands off' policy of the 1950s, it is clear that it has become significantly more difficult for prisoners to prevail in constitutional correctional litigation. The passage and aggressive implementation ofthe Prison Litigation Reform Act has been a powerful disincentive to such litigation in many areas ofprisoners' rights law.

From the perspective of the prisoner, the legal landscape is more hopeful in matters that relate …

His Brain Has Been Mismanaged With Great Skill: How Will Jurors Respond To Neuroimaging Testimony In Insanity Defense Cases, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

The robust debate over neuroimaging has highlighted a series of law-and-policy questions dealing primarily with reliability, admissibility and availability. When we consider the topic that I will be addressing in this paper - the impact of this evidence on juror decision-making in insanity defense cases - we need to recalibrate our focus so as to incorporate other questions that are as essential (most likely, more essential) to the resolution of the underlying dilemma: (1) to what extent will such evidence - apparently, less inherently easy to falsify - have on jurors whose inherent suspicion of mental state opinion testimony is …

Exorcising The Ghosts Of Bowers V. Hardwick: Uprooting Invalid Precedents Symposium: The Evolution Of Academic Discourse On Sexual Orientation And The Law: A Festschrift In Honor Of Jeffrey Sherman, Arthur S. Leonard

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Clinical Year, Stephen J. Ellmann

Articles & Chapters

This article makes the case for the value – and the feasibility, under current accreditation and related rules governing law schools - of a clinical rotation for law students, modeled on the rotations that are a key part of medical school education. The “clinical year,” which would engage students in almost full-time practice/study for their third year of law school, could be a significant step in building the complete apprenticeship that the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has urged. It would also rely to a large extent on the supervision, and teaching, that adjunct law school faculty – …

Legal And Policy Choices In The Aftermath Of The Subprime And Mortgage Financing Crisis, Gerald Korngold

Articles & Chapters

This essay, delivered at a symposium at the University of South Carolina in October 2008 and forthcoming in South Carolina Law Review, sets out initial thoughts about to the legal and policy choices that decision makers must address in the aftermath of the subprime crisis that has since triggered a global financing crunch. After tracing a narrative of how subprime lending grew into a mortgage financing crisis and then a broader financial dislocation, the essay addresses two issues. First, while it is commonly stated that increased regulation will be required in secondary mortgage markets going forward, the essay explores competing …

The History Of The New York City Law Department: Fighting For The City By William E. Nelson, Ross Sandler

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Do We Need A Right To Housing?, Kristen David Adams

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Nevada Alimony: An Important Policy In Need Of A Coherent Policy Purpose, The Honorable David A. Hardy

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Are You A Boy Or A Girl? Show Me Your Real Id, James Mcgrath

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Golan V. Gonzales: An Opportunity To Reexamine The Relationship Between First Amendment Rights And Copyright Protection, Krystal Joy Gallagher

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

To Pay Or Not To Pay: The Nevada Slayer Statute And The Insurance Companies' Dilemma, Alissa Macomber

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Adolescent Identity In The Context Of The Filipino Family, May Anne Garo-Santiago, Roseann Tan-Mansukhani, Ron R. Resurrecion

SDRC Publications

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of Online And Face-To-Face Communication In General Chemistry, Gabriela C. Weaver, Kellie Green, Aliya Rahman, Erik Epp

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This exploratory study investigated an online office hour and a face-to-face recitation for similarities and differences. The online office hour and face-to-face recitation were a part of general chemistry courses taught at different universities. The courses covered the same material at the same level. The results of the investigation revealed that in the online environment students must articulate their ideas clearly to convey them in a text-only medium. The written text seemed to help the instructor to identify misinterpretations made by the students. The instructor-dominated hierarchy between instructor and student is present in both environments. When comparing the percentage of …

Sotl In Chemistry: How To Make The Learning Meaningful, Liberato Cardellini

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

No abstract provided.

A Terminological Matter: Paragenesis, Antigravitative Erosion Or Antigravitational Erosion?, Giancarlo Pasini

International Journal of Speleology

In the speleological literature three terms are utilized to designate the “ascending erosion”: paragenesis (= paragénésis, coined in 1968), antigravitative erosion (= erosione antigravitativa, coined in 1966) and antigravitational erosion (wrong English translation of the Italian term erosione antigravitativa, utilized later on). The term paragenesis should be abandoned because of the priority of the term erosione antigravitativa - on the ground of the “law of priority” – and because of its ambiguous etimology. On the other hand, the term antigravitational erosion should be forsaken in favour of the term antigravitative erosion, given the meaning that the terms gravitation and gravity …

Addressing The Energy Efficiency Financing Challenge: The Role And Limitations Of A Green Bank, Christopher Angell

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This paper will address how a federal program to aggregate and potentially guarantee loans made to finance energy efficiency projects can be leveraged to promote best practices on the state and local level for opening up energy efficiency projects to external financing. There are a number of existing financing tools that have started to solve the problem of providing access to capital for efficiency projects, but the programs are all relatively small and have had limited market penetration. One essential, but not exclusive, solution will be to create a federal entity, based on existing green bank proposals, that has the …

Mobile Sensor Movement Using Simulated Annealing, Sri Harsha Yamparala

Computer Science

Movement of mobile sensor nodes is an important aspect in wireless sensor networks, and there is considerable research underway into the design of mobile sensor movement algorithms for wireless sensor networks. Various mobile sensor movement algorithms have been proposed using different combinatorial optimization techniques such as Tahu Search, Ant Colony Optimization, and Genetic Algorithms. In this paper we present a mobile sensor movement Algorithm for Heterogenenous Sensor Networks using a Simulated annealing search technique. This paper also discusses the various factors that are taken into account while making a decision about the movement of a mobile sensor node in the …

Cross-Judging: Tribunalization In A Fragmented But Interconnected Global Order Symposium - The Normalizing Of Adjudication In Complex International Governance Regimes: Patterns, Possibilities, And Problems, Ruti Teitel, Robert Howse

Articles & Chapters

This paper explores connections, parallels, contact points, and dissonances between increasing adjudication in international criminal law/human rights and international trade/investment.

Introduction: Challenging The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Deborah N. Archer

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Tax Treatment Of Cancelled Interest And Penalties On Consumer Debt, Richard C.E. Beck

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

First-Grade Reading Gains Following Enrichment: Phonics Plus Decodable Texts Compared To Authentic Literature Read Aloud, Brenda L. Beverly, Rebecca M. Giles, Keri L. Buck

Brenda L. Beverly Publications

Purpose: Phonics instruction with decodable texts reading practice was compared to alternate reading enrichments.

Method: Thirty-two first-graders participated. One group practiced reading decodable texts after phonics instruction. Another group heard authentic literature read aloud, and the third group participated in phonics combined with authentic literature. Additionally an untreated classroom was compared to a treated classroom for a school-based reading measure, DIBELS.

Results: Significant gains on DIBELS were found for the treated classroom compared to an untreated classroom following the semester of the enrichment. All treatment groups showed measurable reading gains, but the effect of the treatment text varied by reading …

The Effect Of Self-Efficacy And Psychosocial Development On The Factors That Influence Major Changing Behavior, Karen Cunningham

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This quantitative research study sought to determine the factors that distinguish those students who are classified as “major-changers” from those who are classified as “relatively stable” (never changing their initial major or changing only once or twice). Participants of this study were full-time undergraduate students attending the University of Northern Iowa. The following variables were measured as possible factors influencing major-changing behavior: (a) level of psychosocial development, (b) level of self-efficacy, and (c) level of parental education. The Life-Skills Inventory–College Form (LSDI-CF) was used to measure students' level of psychosocial development and the General Self-efficacy Scale (GSES) was used to …

Differences In Nitrate Uptakeamong Benthic Algal Assemblages In A Mountain Stream, Michelle A. Baker, G. De Guzman

Biology Faculty Publications

We evaluated how benthic algal assemblages that vary in composition, richness, and other diversity metrics remove NO 3 -N from the water column of a mountain stream. Ecological theory and empirical studies suggest that ecosystem process rates should increase as richness increases because of niche separation or activity of dominant taxa. Accordingly, we predicted that algal assemblages with highest richness would show the highest rates of NO 3 -N uptake. To test this prediction, we transplanted 225 rocks representing 3 patch types (green, yellow, and brown) that differed macroscopically in algal composition from a lake outflow stream to a lake …

Selective Herbivory By The Woodrat (Neotoma Lepida) On Joshua Trees (Yucca Brevifolia), M P. Stanford, Nancy J. Huntly

Biology Faculty Publications

We studied herbivory by the desert woodrat (Neotoma lepida) on Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) in the Mojave Desert to determine whether N. lepida fed selectively based on leaf nitrogen content. We measured leaf nitrogen content and the location and amount of herbivory by woodrats on Y. brevifolia trees in southwestern Utah, USA. Neotoma lepida removed the outer tips of leaves (1/3 to 2/3 of total leaf length) but left leaf bases, which had lower nitrogen content, uneaten. Herbivory by N. lepida also was concentrated on rosettes that were oriented south, and these had significantly higher nitrogen content than rosettes that …

The Effects Of A Discourse Community Model On Promoting Intentional Conceptual Change To Increase Understanding Of School Climate And Its Importance, David Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Framed within intentional conceptual change theory, this study looked at the effects of a discourse community model on promoting intentional conceptual change to increase understanding of school climate and its importance. A highly-motivated group of 11 teachers from one elementary school participated in this discourse community designed to promote an intentional conceptual change regarding school climate. Initial interviews, artifact collection, and journal responses were the methods of data collection. Within the discourse community setting, the teachers interacted with a series of activities and discussions to construct new knowledge pertaining to school climate. Themes and patterns of climate understanding emerged and …

New Conceptual Understanding Of Lewis Acidity, Coordinate Covalent Bonding, And Catalysis, Joshua A. Plumley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this dissertation is to correct misconceptions about Lewis acidity, uncover the physical nature of the coordinate covalent bond, and discusses how Lewis acid catalysts influence the rate enhancement of the Diels-Alder reaction. Large-scale quantum computations have been employed to explore many of Lewis' original ideas concerning valency and acid/base behavior. An efficient and practical level of theory able to model Lewis acid adducts accurately was determined by systematic comparison of computed coordinate covalent bond lengths and binding enthalpies of ammonia borane and methyl substituted ammonia trimethylboranes with high-resolution gas-phase experimental work. Of all the levels of theory …

Culture Care Beliefs, Meanings And Practices Related To Health And Well-Being Of South Sudanese "Lost Boy And Lost Girl" Refugees, Margaret Bowles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this ethnonursing study was to describe, analyze and interpret the culture care beliefs, meanings and practices related to health and well-being of South Sudanese "Lost Boy and Lost Girls" following resettlement in the United States. Leininger's theory of culture care diversity and universality and the ethnonursing method provided the organizing framework for studying the domain of inquiry. Interviews were conducted with nineteen general informants and ten key informants, all who lived in the Midwest United States. Extensive analysis of digitally recorded interviews together with the researcher's participant observations and field notes revealed nine data categories and five …

The Reader Of Milton's "Higher Argument" In Paradise Lost, Patricia A. Callahan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Milton has a literary place within the Christian understanding of grace, entangles his reader into Paradise Lost, and embeds a "higher Argument" of an economics of salvation of grace within the text which thus forms a transcendent reader who responds by a choice for the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of mammon. Paradise Lost as a tertiary stage in epic development maintains a grand style, but modern critics have problems with Milton's God. Autobiographical elements in The Reason of Church-Government indicate Milton's sense of a divine calling in poetry, but Professors Grierson and Tillyard disagree regarding Milton's prophetic powers …

Classification Tree Models For Predicting Cancer Status, Pu Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early detection of cancers might improve the clinical outcomes. Multiple biomarkers with a novel LabMAP technology were used as the laboratory method to develop the diagnostic assay for ovarian, breast, endometrial, and lung cancer. To evaluate the accuracy of early stage detection, logistic regression (with forward selection) and classification tree models were applied as statistical methods. Furthermore, complexity parameters and the number of bootstrap samples were varied to assess the effect on sensitivity and specificity. The receiver operating characteristic curves reflected high sensitivities and specificities.