Digital Commons Network^™

Full Issue 4.3

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

The International Criminal Court, The Security Council, And The Politics Of Impunity In Darfur, Victor Peskin

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article analyzes the political challenges confronting the International Crimi- nal Court (ICC) in its efforts to bring war crimes suspects to trial in connection with mass atrocities committed in the Darfur region of Sudan. It chronicles and ex- amines the battles over cooperation between the ICC and the defiant Sudanese gov- ernment that have forestalled the handover of suspects such as Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir. It also seeks to explain why the Security Council, in its ambivalence toward the ICC, has not vigorously pressed Sudan to fulfill its legal obligation to cooperate.

Discovery And Validation Of New Regulatory Rna Elements In Chlamydia Trachomatis, Yasser Mohammed Elsayed Metwally Abdelrahman

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular bacterium that exhibits a unique biphasic developmental cycle that can be disrupted by growth in the presence of IFN-g and b-lactams, giving rise to an abnormal growth state termed persistence. Relatively little is known about the regulatory mechanisms that control temporal gene expression during the developmental cycle or the control of persistence and reactivation. Here we have examined the expression of a newly defined family of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that are differentially expressed during the developmental cycle and the induction of persistence and reactivation (Using IFNγ and Carbenicillin). Non-coding RNAs were initially identified using …

Physical And Functional Coupling Of Cftr And Pde3a, Himabindu Penmatsa

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Formation of multiple-protein macromolecular complexes at specialized subcellular microdomains increases the specificity and efficiency of signaling in cells. In this study, we demonstrated that phosphodiesterase type 3A (PDE3A) is physically and functionally coupled to cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). PDE3A inhibition increases cyclic adenosine 3′, 5′-monophosphate (cAMP) levels in a compartmentalized manner at the plasma membrane, which potentiates CFTR channel function and further clusters PDE3A and CFTR into microdomains. Actin skeleton disruption reduces PDE3A-CFTR interaction; segregates PDE3A from its interacting partners thus compromise the integrity of the macromolecular complex. Consequently, PDE3A inhibition no longer activates CFTR channel function in …

Using Electronic Faculty Course Portfolios To Showcase Classroom Practices And Student Learning, Paul Savory, Amy M. Goodburn

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Faculty course portfolios are a valuable medium for documenting and making visible the serious intellectual work of teaching. Developing a faculty course portfolio follows the same process one uses to explore a research question. Faculty members inquire, analyze, and document their teaching practices and the resulting student learning and then make the results accessible for use, review, and assessment by one’s peers. In this article, we introduce four types of electronic course portfolios that sponsor different forms of inquiry into student learning. We highlight the major components of each type, offer advice in developing them, and share examples of each. …

Molecular Strain Typing Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Isolates To Detect Cross-Contamination Events. Proposed Modifications To Prevent Its Recurrence., Sahal A. Al-Hajoj

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To investigate possible cross-contamination events of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultures, and also to shed light on cross-contamination problems in our laboratories. METHODS: At the TB Research Unit in the Department of Comparative Medicine Research Centre of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we received 22 TB isolates sub-cultured on Lowenstein-Jensen media from a local laboratory in Riyadh on 1st July 2005. We finger printed all 22 isolates in question using a polymerase chain reaction-based spoligotype molecular technique. The epidemiological and clinical data were reviewed. RESULTS: All 22 cases had been proven to be cross-contaminated …

Road Map Of An Ear, Nose, And Throat Clinic During The 2008 Hajj In Makkah, Saudi Arabia., Ameen Z. Alherabi

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To present our experience in the development of our own local electronic Makkah Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) - Hajj Database, and provide a road map for the ENT Clinic during Hajj. METHODS: This prospective cohort study was conducted between November 28 and December 10, 2008 (1429 Hijri Hajj season). All patients presenting to the ENT Clinic at Al-Noor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 1047 patients were included. The mean age was 26 ± 6.4 years. There were 663 males (63.3%), and 384 females (36.7%). Among them, 361 patients (34.5%) were …

Counting Girls In - Gender Issues In Science And Mathematics: An Examination Of The Research Concerning Innate And Socio-Cultural Gender Differences In The Fields Of Science And Mathematics In An Effort To Promote More Female Participation, Valerie R. Mackin

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

In today's world, there is an increasing demand for people in the technological fields. Fewer females than males pursue careers in physical sciences, engineering, and computer science in the United States presenting a loss of needed mathematicians and scientists. Gender differences related to mathematics and science is a complex arena of study, involving both innate biological differences combined with socially constructed ideas about gender in society. Through an in-depth investigation from educational, cognitive, and social psychology perspectives one will be able to determine how innate and socio-cultural factors contribute to the shortage of needed mathematicians and scientists in the United …

Hugo Chavez: Socialism And Dictatorship, Kathryn E. Corridan

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Hugo Chavez is in the process of transforming Venezuela's democracy into a socialist dictatorship. He has diminished democratic institutions, processes, and law. He has practiced demagoguery in order to win popular support, while stifling the critical media. He has reorganized Venezuela's economy to support socialism and provide him with more income and power.

Cyber Influence, William Hutchinson

Australian Information Warfare and Security Conference

This paper explores influence in the cyber-world and the ability and effectiveness of influence campaigns in this medium. It examines the possibilities of influence in the online world as examines the potential of mobile technologies in this area. The contentious link between influence and behavioural change is investigated. Counterinfluence in the context of radicalisation is also looked at. Whilst it is inevitable that the digital medium is and will be used for influence campaigns and will be influential regardless if there are concerted ‘campaigns’ or not, it effects in terms of behavioural change are still open to question.

Culture Jamming: From Activism To Hactivism, Kay Hearn, Rachel J. Mahncke, Patricia A. Williams

Australian Information Warfare and Security Conference

A new kind of Internet threat has emerged. Hacking is increasingly being used as a weapon by individuals to promote their political ideologies by engaging in distributed citizen-based warfare. Their aim is to disrupt communications using internet enabled networks and organisations. Examples of these online assaults during 2009 were evident during the Iranian protests and the Melbourne International Film Festival. Such attacks use denial of service techniques and utilised social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and You Tube to post links to access hacking instructions. Posts on social networking websites and news stories from a variety of sources online, …

Safeguarding Australia From Cyber-Terrorism:A Proposed Cyber-Terrorism Scada Risk Framework For Industry Adoption, Christopher Beggs, Matthew Warren

Australian Information Warfare and Security Conference

Terrorist groups are currently using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to orchestrate their conventional physical attacks. More recently, terrorists have been developing a new form of capability within the cyber-arena to coordinate cyber-based attacks. This paper identifies that cyber-terrorism capabilities are an integral, imperative, yet under-researched component in establishing, and enhancing cyber-terrorism risk assessment models for SCADA systems. This paper is an extension of work previously published by Beggs and Warren 2008, it presents a high level overview of a cyber-terrorism SCADA risk framework that has been adopted and validated by SCADA industry practitioners. The paper proposes a managerial framework …

Challenges In Improving Information Security Practice In Australian General Practice, Donald C. Mcdermid, Rachel J. Mahncke, Patricia A. Williams

Australian Information Security Management Conference

The status of information security in Australian medical general practice is discussed together with a review of the challenges facing small practices that often lack the technical knowledge and skill to secure patient information by themselves. It is proposed that an information security governance framework is required to assist practices in identifying weaknesses and gaps and then to plan and implement how to overcome their shortcomings through policies, training and changes to processes and management structure.

Case Study On An Investigation Of Information Security Management Among Law Firms, Sameera Mubarak, Elena Sitnikova

Australian Information Security Management Conference

The integrity of lawyers trust accounts as come under scrutiny in the last few years. There have been many incidents of trust account fraud reported internationally, including a case in Australia, where an employee of a law firm stole $4,500,000 from the trust funds of forty-two clients. Our study involved interviewing principles of ten law companies to find out solicitors’ attitudes to computer security and the possibility of breaches of their trust accounts. An overall finding highlights that law firms were not current with technology to combat computer crime, and inadequate access control was a major concern in safeguarding account …

Development Of A Critical Factors Model For The Knowledge Economy In Saudi Arabia, Fahad A. Alothman, Peter Busch

Australian Information Security Management Conference

If knowledge-based economic systems are to be adopted, succeed and be disseminated, many significant barriers must be overcome regardless of how advanced a country is in terms of its infrastructure and domestic production. This paper describes an investigation of the critical factors associated with the adoption and dissemination of a knowledge economy initiative. The focus of the research is on knowledge management, national culture and other country-specific factors and how they are influencing Saudi Arabia’s efforts to develop a knowledge economy.

The Truth About Physician Participation In Lethal Injection Executions, Ty Alper

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Requiring A Jury Vote Of Censure To Convict, Richard E. Myers Ii

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sex At The Park: Stories From My Days With Ninfa, Dalel Serda

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This creative nonfiction manuscript chronicles the burgeoning relationship between the narrator and her subject, Ninfa—the folkloric, enduring and elusive Harlingen, Texas prostitute. This project aims to document the process of demystification the narrator undergoes as the women get to know each other. Furthermore, in the process of gathering the materials that will tell her subject’s story, the narrator attempts to tell the story about getting the story, about what led to this story and of what resulted. In sum, this work explores the often-blurry boundaries and complexities of what is inevitably a friendship.

Ethnobotanical Study In Casma, Peru: The Important Knowledge Of Ethnobotanicals From Local People, Rebecca L. Reyes

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

I began to investigate how local people use medicinal plants in Peru in the summer of 2007. It soon became apparent that many of the citizens of the small coastal town of Casma have an extensive knowledge of how to identify, prepare, and use these plants. During the summer of 2008, I did extensive research on the subject; however, focused more on the local knowledge of medicinal plants. To put my work in context, I researched ethnobotany more generally and became more aware of the worldwide implications, local background traditions and life, and local knowledge that impact the use and …

Lived Experiences Of Men In Nursing: Chickadees, Stepping Stones, And Muddling Through Maternity, Julie E. Klein

Theses and Dissertations

The profession of nursing is facing an imminent shortage of health care providers within its discipline. Registered Nurses comprise the largest group of health care professionals in the United States. The profession of nursing has experienced cycles of worker shortages in the past but this current situation is predicted to be unlike previous shortages. Efforts to alleviate previous nurse shortages focused primarily on efforts to glorify the feminine image of nursing to increase the recruitment of young women into the profession but the profession can no longer rely on an unlimited supply of women to become nurses because of an …

Usability As A Method For Assessing Discovery, Thomas A. Ipri, Michael A. Yunkin, Jeanne M. Brown

Library Faculty Research

The University of Nevada Las Vegas Libraries engaged in three projects that helped identify areas of its website that had inhibited discovery of services and resources. These projects also helped generate staff interest in the Usability Working Group, which led these endeavors. The first project studied student responses to the site. The second focused on a usability test with the Libraries’ peer research coaches and resulted in a presentation of those findings to the Libraries staff. The final project involved a specialized test, the results of which also were presented to staff. All three of these projects led to improvements …

Political Discourse And Participation Utilizing Web 2.0 Technologies, Heather J. Kauffman

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

The increasing use of Web 2.0 technologies in American society, specifically social networking sites, may have particular impacts on the democratic system. This thesis serves as a comprehensive exploratory study of political communication in social networking environments. The study examined whether political communication is taking place via interactive Web 2.0 technologies and if this discourse has an impact on citizen political participation. The research utilized existing qualitative theories and supplemented them with historical examples, including information from the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign and the 2009 U.S. Tea Party Movement. The data supported that Web 2.0 technologies are being used …

Social Networking: Is It Another Stage In The Evolution Of Communication And Does It Affect The Way We Think About Problem Solving And Communicating?, Sandy L. Robinson

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores whether participants in online social networking sites differ from non-participants in their approach to problem solving or in their attitudes about their interactions with their own social networks. Walter Ong (1982) determined that people’s thinking changed with different media usage, particularly from oral to script, script to print, and print to electronic. This research examines problem solving and attitudes about interactions with social networks as two criteria for exploring how people think. In a review of the literature, the thesis explores the theory of media ecology, which expands on the work of McLuhan (1967) and Ong (1982), …

The Greenhouse Effect: Common Misconceptions And Effective Instruction, Trevor W. Strickland

Physics

This study is an extension of the research of Dr. John Keller. It attempts to identify common student misconceptions regarding the greenhouse effect and investigate instructional methods of teaching the greenhouse effect. Dr. Keller developed a test, known as the Greenhouse Effect Concept Inventory (GECI), designed to measure a student’s understanding of the greenhouse effect. A central goal of this project is to investigate the effectiveness of this concept inventory at measuring differences in student knowledge of the greenhouse effect. In addition to the Cal Poly student population that participated in this research, we will be looking at the population …

A Time For Necessary Change: Fdr’S First Inaugural Address, Corey Lenzen

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Communication Within The Packaging Industry, Lauren K. Soares

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to show the potential that strategic packaging communication could have on attracting a larger client base. Through revealing current packaging innovations and the psychology behind it, a business should be well informed on how to appeal to the maximum amount of customers.

The study consisted of elite and specialized interviewing of industry experts in order to get an inside look at packaging and how companies are using it to communicate to their target markets. The next step was to survey this targeted customer base and discover the psychology behind their purchases and what is …

Interactive Print - The Application Of Synergy To Restore And Enhance The Value Of Print, Amy Mcgiven, Jeanne Ngo

Graphic Communication

With the emergence and increasing role of technology in today’s society, many questions are raised about what is the future of print. This study set out to research the term “interactive print,” which, for the purposes of this study, includes Personalized Uniform Resource Locator (PURL), GossRSVP, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), and other sources of technology that refer an end consumer to online sources via print.

This report was written in order to research the current trends and knowledge in the industry as it relates to interactive print technologies, as well as to foresee the role of interactive print in the …

The Customer-Responsiveness Of Web-To-Print, Robert Coleman Pringle

Graphic Communication

In a transitioning printing environment, where most of a company’s traditional operations are becoming obsolete, it is expected for all printers to look into adopting digital solutions to service customers more efficiently to keep up with their fast-paced demands. One solution that can provide rapid efficiency is Web-to-Print software, which serves as an online ordering platform for customers. Web-to-Print software not only keeps track of online order specifications for customers but also keeps records of all the transactional information including the most popular products purchased by clients, which can be used as a marketing advantage in tracking the most profitable …

Simpler Packaging, Tomiko Oden

Graphic Communication

This project explains how product packaging is become more "green", and thus more simple. Packaging needs to go beyond just simplifying materials and graphics - it needs to create a simpler process in order to reduce wasted time, energy, and resources.

Color Correction For Underwater Photography, Vanessa Pateman

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to develop knowledge of the practice of underwater photography and determine how color correction leads to the success of an underwater photograph. Color is one of the photographer's greatest assets. When light travels through water instead of air, different techniques and equipment are necessary for correct color capture.

Human perception of color changes with depth underwater, which is due to the decrease in natural light. The scientific method, elite and specialized interviewing, and content analysis were used in this study to determine useful tools in color capture and reproduction in underwater photographs.

An experiment …