Digital Commons Network^™

High-Income Child Support Guidelines: Harmonizing The Need For Limits With The Best Interests Of The Child, Laura Raatjes

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Providing for the needs of children of separated parents lies at the heart of state child support laws. But what about providing for the special needs of children of high-income obligors and ensuring consistency in a system often marked by unpredictability and high emotions? This Note examines the manifold problems that discretionary high-income child support decisions can cause: inequitable settlement, increased litigation, injured family structures, and inconsistent decisions. This Note also proposes a solution: to set higher thresholds for triggering a high-income analysis and to require high-income parents to contribute to post-secondary educational trusts. Finally, this Note explains that, as …

A Metrical Analysis And Rebarring Of Paul Creston's Sonata For Alto Saxophone And Piano, Op. 19, Christopher Kyle Sweitzer

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

The Sonata For Alto Saxophone and Piano Op. 19 is one of the most popular pieces in the saxophone literature, commonly played by professional saxophonists during their training. It features exciting rhythmic devices like irregular and mixed meter, the notation of which is the main focus of this paper. Although Creston often used irregular and mixed meter in his compositions, he rarely specifically notated them, choosing instead to use accents, beams, slurs, and other phenomenal cues at the musical surface to create the effect of these metric plans. Time signatures often remained constant throughout entire movements. Creston believed this would …

Using An Audience Response System (Ars) A.K.A. “Clicker” To Do Attention Research, Roger A. Kendrick

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

This study makes an effort to examine whether a student’s attention or engagement is increased by possession of an Audience Response System (ARS, or clicker). This experiment tested a difference in performance. This study makes an effort to examine whether a student’s attention or engagement is increased by possession of an Audience Response System (ARS, or clicker). This experiment tested a difference in performance between students who possessed an ARS and those who did not. The experiment was conducted at a small state college in the Midwest where small class size is typical. Approximately half the students in each tested …

Beliefs About Alcohol And The College Experience As Moderators Of The Effects Of Perceived Drinking Norms On Student Alcohol Use, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Many students view the abuse of alcohol as integral to the student role. Thus, they feel entitled to drink heavily without sanction. OLS regression was used to assess the extent to which these beliefs about alcohol and the college experience moderate the effects of descriptive and injunctive campus drinking norms on students’ levels of alcohol consumption. Overall, respondents who perceived that same-sex students on their campus drank heavily tended to drink heavily themselves. This relationship was, however, strongest among individuals who viewed the abuse of alcohol as part of being a student. Although general injunctive norms were not themselves associated …

Speleo Spiel, No. 381, November-December 2010, Alan Jackson

Speleo Spiel

Contents: Regular Bits -- Trip Reports -- Other Exciting Stuff -- Surveys

The Texas Caver, Volume 56, No. 4, October-December 2010, Mark Alman

The Texas Caver

Contents: Texas Cavers Reunion Photo Album—Inside Cover - The Adventure That Found Me - TSA News and Notes - RC’s in the HG’s (Or Why I Love New Mexico Caves) - Horne Lake Caves 'Spelunking' - Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada May 14, 2010. - TSA Spring Convention, Fort Clark Springs Brackettville, TX April 1st 3rd, 2011

Transparency Soup: The Acta Negotiating Process And "Black Box" Lawmaking, David S. Levine

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

The negotiations of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) have been marred by a level of attempted secrecy heretofore unseen in international intellectual property lawmaking. Simultaneously, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been used in several significant national contexts to prevent the disclosure of data and information in ways that call into question its efficacy as an effective regulation of governmental knowledge. This paper seeks to tie together these two recent developments in order to (a) prevent future international intellectual property law negotiations from being unduly secret and (b) encourage Congress to consider reforming FOIA in light of current public …

Liberalization Without A Regulator. The Rail Freight Transport Market In Poland In The Years 1996-2009, Marcin Król

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

This article focuses on the liberalization process of the railway freight transport market in Poland between 1997 and 2009. It shows that the increase in traffic and the fall in prices that occurred in this period took place not because of ‘effective regulation’ but despite its absence. This can indicate that introducing competition in railway freight transport could be profitable where there is significant demand for bulk and containers freight services and the railway infrastructure is well-developed.

Legislative Developments In Rail Transport In 2009, Katarzyna Zawisza

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

No abstract provided.

Shall Selective, Above-Cost Price Cutting In The Newspaper Market Be Qualified As Anticompetitive Exclusion? Case Comment To The Judgement Of The Supreme Court Of 19 August 2009 - Marquard Media Polska (Ref. No. Iii Sk 5/09), Konrad Kohutek

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

No abstract provided.

Application Of Double Sampling To Combine Measured And Imputed Genotype Data In Genetic Association Studies, Qilong Yuan

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Genotype imputation provides an essential technique for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) with hundreds of thousands of SNPs. Understanding the connection between imputation inconsistencies and the power to detect association at imputed markers or the disease genes close to them is important for the optimal design of imputation-based GWAS since genotype misclassification can significantly decrease statistical power to detect association. Double sampling of genotypes is a statistical procedure in which a portion of subjects receive a second and more precise genotyping. This paper applies the likelihood ratio test allowing for errors (LRT-AE), which incorporates double sample information for genotypes on a …

Automation Enhancement Of Multilayer Laue Lenses, Kenneth Robert Lauer

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

X-ray optics fabrication at Brookhaven National Laboratory has been facilitated by a new, state of the art magnetron sputtering physical deposition system. With its nine magnetron sputtering cathodes and substrate carrier that moves on a linear rail via a UHV brushless linear servo motor, the system is capable of accurately depositing the many thousands of layers necessary for multilayer Laue lenses. I have engineered a versatile and automated control program from scratch for the base system and many subsystems. Its main features include a custom scripting language, a fully customizable graphical user interface, wireless and remote control, and a terminal-based …

Analysis Of Single And Dual Under-Expanded, Rarefied Jets, Wenhai Li

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

A numerical study, using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) approach, of the interaction effects between two identical sonic under-expanded nitrogen jets under rarefied conditions is reported. In this paper, the effects of the jet stagnation Knudsen number (Kn_s), the ratio of the stagnation-to-background pressure (P_s/P_b), and the distance between the jet orifices (L/D) were investigated for a range of these parameters. The background pressure has a very significant effect on the physics of flow, and the interactions between the two jets affect the location of the Mach disks for both the primary and …

Multinuclear Solid-State Nmr Studies Of Phosphate Uptake By Aluminum (Hydr)Oxides, Wei Li

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant growth and agriculture. In aqueous environments, interaction of dissolved phosphate with the surfaces of Al oxyhydroxides and clays is important for controlling its transport, fate and bioavailability. Understanding the reaction mechanisms responsible for phosphate uptake at the molecular level can provide significant insight and improved prediction of phosphate uptake behavior, leading to better strategies for phosphate fertilizationand regulation. In this research, I examined the specific adsorption of phosphate on boehmite (γ-AlOOH) and other Al (hydr)oxides by combining mainly batch sorption techniques, 31P solid-state NMR spectroscopy, quantum chemical calculations and Fouriertransform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. …

Functional Analysis Of The Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Family In Mammary Epithelial Cell Models Of Breast Cancer, Guang Lin

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) superfamily of enzymes is encoded by ~100 genes. In coordinating with protein tyrosine kinases (PTK), they regulate signaling pathways that control a broad spectrum of fundamental physiological processes and their disruption underlie human diseases. To date, however, the functional analysis of PTPs is not as advanced as for PTKs. Therefore, the ultimate goal of this dissertation is to develop the tools for global analysis of the function of PTPs through RNAi-mediated loss-of-function screens. I constructed a PTP short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) library, which contains ~5 shRNAs specifically designed to target each of the PTPs. In collaboration …

Finding Highly Probable(Robust) Paths In The Presence Of Uncertain Weather, Ashish Lohia

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Uncertain weather conditions is one of the biggest challenges faced by air traffic route management. The US airspace is constructed of virtual freeways and all flights have predetermined routes on which to fly, which have originated over years of work and experience. These flight routes are sometimes marred by bad weather conditions which force the pilots to take on alternative routes. It is not very difficult to come up which these alternates if the conditions are known in advance but the real challenge comes when they come up unexpectedly enroute.Stochastic weather conditions such as turbulance and icing are very difficult …

From Sin To Sickness: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Four Major American Newpapers' Representations Of Alcoholism, Amy Platt

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

AbstractFrom Sin to Sickness: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Four Major American Newspapers' Representation of AlcoholismByAmy PlattSchool of Social Welfare The purpose of this study is to explore how four major American newspapers represent alcoholism. These newspapers are: The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal. Articles were collected over a five year period (2004-2008) using a constructed, random sample. The principal research questions are: (1) How do different newspapers portray alcoholism?, (2) How much emphasis do the articles place on the moral model of addiction? (3) How much emphasis do the articles place …

Sighing Into A League Of His Own: Rushdie's Use Of Camäes's Epic And Cervantes's Romance In The Moor's Last Sigh, Amanda M. Ponnwitz

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This paper provides an analysis of Salman Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh use Luis Vaz de Camäes's epic poem The Lusiads and Miguel de Cervantes's satiric romance Don Quixote. After a brief discussion of epic and romance, I trace Rushdie's use and re-use of various aspects from both of these works. A close reading of The Lusiads and The Moor's Last Sigh will show that in re-using Camäes's epic, Rushdie provides India with a nationalistic work and voice that reclaims India from her imperial past, while also providing a pluralist perspective for the world to learn from. Furthermore, an analysis …

Chromatin Protein Hmgb2 In Neural Progenitor Cells And Adult Neurogenesis, Ariel Benjamin Abraham

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Neural stem cells (NSCs) and neural progenitor cells (NPCs) are distinct groups of cells present in the embryonic and adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS). Proliferation of NSCs and NPCs is regulated by several molecular factors including the cyclin dependant kinase inhibitors (CDKI), such as p16Ink4a, and negative regulators of cell cycle, such as p19Arf. Chromatin proteins, including chromatin protein high mobility group A2 (HMGA2), regulate the expression of p16Ink4a and p19Arf in NSCs and NPCs, demonstrating the critical regulatory role that chromatin proteins play in NSC and NPC proliferation. In addition to HMGA2, it is likely that other chromatin …

Correlation Between Structure And Thermoelectric Properties: Searching For Better Thermoelectric Materials, Qing Jie

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The wide-spread application of thermoelectric devices is important for effective utilization of energy and environment. The market share of thermoelectric devices could potentially reach billions of dollars per year and urgently needs new materials with high energy conversion efficiency, which depends primarily on the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT). ZT = S2T/(ΡΚ), where S, Ρ, Κ, T are Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity and absolute temperature, respectively, and S2/Ρ is the power factor (P.F.). ZT could be enhanced by either decreasing the thermal conductivity or increasing the power factor of the material under study. In this work, the relationship …

Life After Beanbag Genetics: Theoretical And Empirical Studies On Epistasis And Penetrance, Joseph Lachance

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Population genetics reduces the description of a population to a set of genotype frequencies. Because of this, it has been called"beanbag genetics.". However, greater complexity and biological realism can be incorporated into this framework. Two examples of this include interactions between different genes (epistasis) and individuals with the same genotype that have different phenotypes (incomplete penetrance). During the course of my Ph.D. work, both of these topics were investigated using theoretical population genetics and Drosophila genetics. One unifying theme was that genes do not exist in isolation: they occur within genetic and environmental contexts. In turn, these contexts were found …

Solid State Nmr And Pair Distribution Function Studies Of Silicon Electrodes For Lithium-Ion Batteries, Baris Key

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The universally used negative electrode material in a LIB is carbon, because of its moderate capacity (372 mAhg-1 for graphite), cyclability and high rate capability. However, new, low cost, safe electrode materials with higher capacities are still urgently required for both portable and transportation applications. Silicon anodes are particularly attractive alternatives to carbon with extremely high gravimetric energy densities (3572 mAhg-1). Compared to graphite, silicon has a massive volumetric capacity of 8322 mAhcm-3 (calculated based on the original volume of silicon) which is approximately ten times that graphite. At room temperature, upon electrochemical lithiation, silicon undergoes a crystalline to amorphous …

The Specificity Of Vesicle Trafficking During Prospore Membrane Formation In Yeast, Hui-Ju Yang

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This research focuses on the production of new plasma membranes during gametogenesis in yeast. The initiation of these membranes is started by vesicle fusion at spindle pole bodies (SPBs) during Meiosis II. I have asked how these vesicles specifically fuse at SPBs but not at other locations, and demonstrated that binding interactions between soluble NSF attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) confer one layer of specificity to vesicle fusion at SPBs. Furthermore, I showed that SPBs can actively regulate a Rab GTPase, suggesting a role for SPBs in vesicle docking. My work highlights the ancestral dual roles of centrioles in microtubule organization …

Moi Et Plus Que Moi : Absence And Presence In · La Recherche Du Temps Perdu, Carlie Marie Anglemire

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

For Marcel Proust's narrator of · la recherche du temps perdu, the"moi et plus-que-moi," this excess of being of friends, family, and lovers, is an essential element of life that he does not want to escape as long as an exploration of the creative depth of his personal identity is not irrevocably barred. Although he expresses a longing to abscond from others in order to have aesthetically rich experiences and articulates the cynical view that we are mere caricatures of ourselves with friends and in relationships, he also expresses the anxiety of waiting for someone to arrive, the feeling of …

Statistical Models For Snp Detection, Shengnan Cai

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Variations in DNA sequences of humans have a strong association with many diseases. Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) is the most common type of DNA variations. Our research is to detect SNPs from the data generated by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and next generation sequencing methods. In the first part of the study, we had a relatively small data set with fewer known SNPs as the training data. We developed a classification model based on the cross validation method. From the first part of the research, we gained knowledge of the properties of the data. In the next phase, we obtained …

High Level Describable Attributes For Predicting Aesthetics And Interestingness, Sagnik Dhar

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

With the rise in popularity of digital cameras, the amount of visual data available on the web is growing exponentially. Some of these pictures are extremely beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately the vast majority are uninteresting or of low quality. This paper demonstrates a simple, yet powerful method to automatically select high aesthetic quality images from large image collections with performance significantly better than the state of the art. We also show significantly better results on predicting the interestingness of Flickr images, and on a novel problem of predicting query specific interestingness. Our aesthetic quality estimation method explicitly predicts some …

The Brown Dwarf Kinematics Project, Jackie Kelly Faherty

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Brown dwarfs are a recent addition to the plethora of objects studied in Astronomy. With theoretical masses between 13 and 75 M_Jupiter, they lack sustained stable Hydrogen burning so they never join the stellar main sequence. They have physical properties similar to both planets and low--mass stars so studies of their population inform on both. The distances and kinematics of brown dwarfs provide key statistical constraints on their ages, moving group membership, absolute brightnesses, evolutionary trends, and multiplicity. Yet, until my thesis, fundamental measurements of parallax and proper motion were made for only a relatively small fraction of …

Tools To Enrich User Experience During"Visual Analysis", Supriya Garg

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Visual Analytics is the integration of interactive visualization with analysis techniques to help answer questions, and find interesting"patterns" in a given dataset. This approach is useful in cases where human knowledge and intuition is required. Further, with the increasing size of data, an interactive visual interface can give the user control over what she wants to see. Towards this end, we develop a Visual Analytics (VA) infrastructure, rooted on techniques in machine learning and logic-based deductive reasoning. This system assists people in making sense of large, complex data sets by facilitating the generation and validation of models representing relationships in …

Traffic Scene Understanding Using Sound-Based Localization, Svm Classification And Clustering, Shreyas Kodasara Rajagopal

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The thesis is about an embedded system application aimed at identifying the semantics of traffic based on acoustic data. Sound localization, classification and clustering are used for scene understanding. The report presents a set of experiments used to simulate different traffic scenarios. An alternative implementation for sound localization is also explored, where fixed point representation of rational numbers is used instead of floating point numbers. The results for both the implementations are compared in terms of execution speed and accuracy for a Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC). | 43 pages

Book Review: Not Broke, But Badly Bent, Charles F. Angell

Bridgewater Review

Review of:

• Gary Rivlin, Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc. - How the Working Poor Became Big Business
• Ellen Ruppel Shell, Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture
• Barbara Ehrenreich, Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America