Digital Commons Network^™

Misunderstanding Congress: Statutory Interpretation, The Supermajoritarian Difficulty, And The Separation Of Powers, Victoria Nourse

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Every lawyer's theory of statutory interpretation carries with it an idea of Congress, and every idea of Congress, in turn, carries with it an idea of the separation of powers. In this article, the author critiques three dominant academic theories of statutory interpretation--textualism, purposivism, and game theory--for their assumptions about Congress and the separation of powers. She argues that each academic theory fails to account for Congress's dominant institutional features: "the electoral connection," the "supermajoritarian difficulty," and the "principle of structure-induced ambiguity." This critique yields surprising conclusions, rejecting both standard liberal and conservative views on statutory interpretation.

"Plain" meaning, it …

Skilling: More Blind Monks Examining The Elephant, Julie R. O'Sullivan

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Most academics and practitioners with whom the author has discussed the result in Skilling v. United States believe that it is a sensible decision. That is, the Supreme Court did the best it could to limit the reach of 18 U.S.C. § 1346, which all nine justices apparently believed—correctly—was, on its face, unconstitutionally vague. Congress responded quickly and with little consideration with the supremely under-defined § 1346. In the over twenty years since the statute's enactment, the Courts of Appeals have been unable to come up with any unified limiting principles to contain its reach. The Skilling Court, evidently reluctant …

Relaxation Imaging To Characterize Lightweight Polymer-Crosslinked Aerogels, Emmalou T. Satterfield

Masters Theses

"Silica aerogels are three-dimensional assemblies of silica nanoparticles with extremely low densities. In some instances, the internal void volume is more than 90% of the total volume. The highly porous structure of the aerogels leads to attractive properties for thermal and noise insulation, due to very low thermal conductivity and very high acoustic impedance. The strength of silica aerogels has been substantially improved by casting a thin conformal polymer coating over the entire internal porous surfaces of the nanostructure. The coating reinforces the interparticle connections without significantly compromising the internal void space. To analyze and compare the properties of several …

Chasing The Greased Pig Down Wall Street: A Gatekeeper’S Guide To The Psychology, Culture And Ethics Of Financial Risk-Taking, Donald C. Langevoort

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The current financial crisis has once again focused attention on lawyers, corporate directors and auditors as gatekeepers, who are expected to introduce some degree of cognitive independence to the task of risk assessment and risk management in public companies, including financial services firms. This essay examines the psychological and cultural forces that may distort risk perception and risk motivation in hyper-competitive firms, beyond the standard economic incentives associated with agency costs and moral hazards, warning gatekeepers against too easily assuming that all is well when insiders display high levels of intensity, focus and devotion to hard-to-achieve goals. In fact, these …

Constitutional Hypocrisy, Girardeau A. Spann

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

My legal realist inclinations leave me largely agnostic about the particular provisions that happen to be included in any particular constitution. That is because both written and unwritten constitutions seem more likely to reflect than to prescribe the normative values of the cultures that adopt them. As a result, the substantive, structural, and procedural provisions of the present United States Constitution seem perfectly adequate to promote justice-at least in a culture that is genuinely committed to the cause of justice. No constitution is likely to promote justice in a culture that lacks such a commitment. Nevertheless, there is one change …

Scaling Properties At Freeze-Out In Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions, M. M. Aggarwal, Z. Ahammed, A. V. Alakhverdyants, I. Alekseev, J. Alford, B. D. Anderson, S. Bueltmann, I. Koralt, D. Plyku, Star Collaboration

Physics Faculty Publications

Identified charged pion, kaon, and proton spectra are used to explore the system size dependence of bulk freeze-out properties in Cu+Cu collisions at √sNN=200 and 62.4 GeV. The data are studied with hydrodynamically motivated blast-wave and statistical model frameworks in order to characterize the freeze-out properties of the system. The dependence of freeze-out parameters on beam energy and collision centrality is discussed. Using the existing results from Au + Au and pp collisions, the dependence of freeze-out parameters on the system size is also explored. This multidimensional systematic study furthers our understanding of the QCD phase diagram revealing the importance …

Crab Crossing Schemes And Studies For Electron Ion Collider, S. Ahmed, Y. Derbenev, V. Morozov, A. Castilla, Geoffrey A. Krafft, B. Yunn, Subashini U. De Silva, Jean R. Delayen

Physics Faculty Publications

This report shows our progress in crab crossing consideration for future electron-ion collider envisioned at JLab. In this design phase, we are evaluating two crabbing schemes viz., the deflecting and dispersive. The mathematical formulations and lattice design for these schemes are discussed in this paper. Numerical simulations involving particle tracking through a realistic deflecting RF cavity and optics illustrate the desired crab tilt of 25 mrad for 1.35 MV. Evolution of beam propagation are shown which provides the physical insight of the crabbing phenomenon.

Genetically Engineered Aequorin For The Development Of Novel Bioanalytical Systems, Krystal Teasley Hamorksy

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The ability to rationally or randomly modify proteins has expanded their employment in various bioanalytical applications. The bioluminescent protein, aequorin, has been employed as a reporter for decades due to its simplistic, non-hazardous nature and its high sensitivity of detection. More recently aequorin has been subject to spectral tuning. Techniques such as random and site-directed mutagenesis, the incorporation of coelenterazine analogues and the incorporation of non-natural amino acids have expanded the palette of aequorin by altering their emission wavelengths and/or half-lifes. Due to the increased diversity of aequorin, it can be used in multianalyte detection.

Although aequorin has been studied …

Restoration Of Tall Fescue Pastures To Native Warm Season Grasslands: Does A Fungal Endophyte Symbiosis Play A Role In Restoration Success?, Sarah Lynn Hall

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Tall fescue, a cool-season grass native to Europe, central Asia, and northern Africa, has been widely distributed throughout the U.S. for use as turf and forage. Following its widespread planting, its ability to associate with a toxic fungal endophyte, Neotyphodium coenophialum, was discovered. Research has linked this fescue-endophyte association with increased biotic and abiotic stress resistance in endophyte-infected (E+) versus endophyte-free (E-) plants, and these differences may affect the ability of land managers to eradicate tall fescue and restore native grasslands. I conducted three studies to examine whether E+ tall fescue plants respond differently to management than E- plants, …

Circadian And Homeostatic Regulation Of Sleep In Cast/Eij And C57bl/6j Mice, Peng Jiang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Sleep is essential for mammals and possibly for all animals. Advancing our knowledge of sleep regulation is crucial for the development of interventions in sleep-related health and social problems. With this aim, this study utilizes laboratory mice to explore sleep regulatory mechanisms at behavioral, molecular, and genetic levels.

Sleep is regulated by the interaction of circadian and homeostatic processes. The circadian clock facilitates sleep to occur at a favorable time of the day. Normal mice, such as the C57BL/6J (B6) strain, sleep mostly during the day and initiate activities at dark onset. Here, I show mice of the CAST/EiJ (CAST) …

Intermediate Steps Of Loline Alkaloid Biosynthesis, Jerome Ralph Faulkner

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Epichloë species and their anamorphs, Neotyphodium species, are fungal endophytes that inhabit cool-season grasses and often produce bioprotective alkaloids. These alkaloids include lolines, which are insecticidal and insect feeding deterrents. Lolines are exo-1-aminopyrrolizidines with an oxygen bridge between carbons 2 and 7, and are usually methylated and formylated or acetylated on the 1-amine. In previously published studies lolines were shown to be derived from the amino acids L-proline and L-homoserine. In addition the gene cluster involved in loline-alkaloid biosynthesis has also been characterized. In this dissertation a survey of plant-endophyte symbioses revealed a phenotype with only N-acetylnorloline. This …

Loss Of Bloom Syndrome Protein Causes Destabilization Of Genomic Architecture And Is Complemented By Ectopic Expression Of Escherichia Coli Recg In Human Cells, Michael Wayne Killen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Genomic instability driven by non-allelic homologous recombination (NAHR) provides a realistic mechanism that could account for the numerous chromosomal abnormalities that are hallmarks of cancer. We recently demonstrated that this type of instability could be assayed by analyzing the copy number variation of the human ribosomal RNA gene clusters (rDNA). Further, we found that gene cluster instability (GCI) was present in greater than 50% of the human cancer samples that were tested. Here, data is presented that confirms this phenomenon in the human GAGE gene cluster of those cancer patients. This adds credence to the hypothesis that NAHR could be …

The Ecology Of Disturbances And Global Change In The Montane Grasslands Of The Nilgiris, South India, Madhusudan P. Srinivasan

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Biodiversity rich regions worldwide face threats from various global change agents. This research quantifies environmental influences on vegetation, and the impacts of exotic woody plant invasion and anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition in a global biodiversity hotspot. The study was conducted in the montane grasslands of the Nilgiris, Western Ghats, and outlines potential management options for this region. Specifically, I examined (1) the role of environmental factors in influencing native plant distribution and ecosystem properties, (2) the status and impact of exotic shrub (Scotch broom, henceforth broom) invasion, (3) the role of disturbances in the success of broom, (4) the role …

Analysis Of Differential Gene Expression And Alternative Splicing In The Liver And Gastrointestinal Tract In The Lactating Rat, Antony Thomas Athippozhy

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Rat exon microarrays were utilized to detect changes in mRNA expression and alternative splicing in the liver, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum of the lactating rat when compared to age-matched virgin controls. Analysis of data at the level of gene expression revealed differential expression of genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis in each tissue examined, suggesting increased Sterol Response Element Binding Protein activity. We also detected decreased mRNA from components of the T-cell signaling pathway in the jejunum and ileum. We characterized expression of solute carrier and adenosine triphosphate binding cassette proteins. In addition to characterizing genes by pathway, we have also …

Seeing Subjects: Recognition, Identity, And Visual Cultures In Literary Modernism, George Micajah Phillips

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Seeing Subjects plots a literary history of modern Britain that begins with Dorian Gray obsessively inspecting his portrait’s changes and ends in Virginia Woolf’s visit to the cinema where she found audiences to be “savages watching the pictures.” Focusing on how literature in the late-19^th and 20^th centuries regarded images as possessing a shaping force over how identities are understood and performed, I argue that modernists in Britain felt mediated images were altering, rather than merely representing, British identity. As Britain’s economy expanded to unprecedented imperial reach and global influence, new visual technologies also made it possible to …

Efficacy Of Organically Certifiable Materials And Natural Compounds Against Foliar Hemibiotrophic And Necrotrophic Fungi In Cantaloupe And Tomato, Merari Feliciano-Rivera

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Kentucky reported a solid 13.1% growth in certified organic land from 1997 to 2002. The relative lack of research on disease management practices in Kentucky consistent with organic regulations is an issue that needs to be addressed to provide more reliable information to local farmers. Thus, the first objective of this research was to investigate the potential disease control obtained with natural, organically certifiable spray materials against Colletotrichum orbiculare in vitro and in vivo. The second objective was to test certifiable spray materials in combinations to identify synergistic interactions. The third objective was to evaluate Organic Material Review Institute …

The Impact Of Trial Consultants On Perceptions Of Procedural Justice And Juror Verdicts: An Empirical Investigation, Jennifer Burke Katz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Despite the proliferation of the trial consulting industry in recent years, we know virtually nothing about the impact that the use of a trial consultant may have on a jury. This laboratory study seeks to fill some of the gaps in the trial consulting literature by using the principles of procedural justice to explore what, if any, impact the use of a trial consultant can have on the outcome of a criminal jury trial, as well as the possibility that perceptions of fairness mediate the relationship between the balance of trial consultants and juror verdicts in cases where the evidence …

Computer Simulation Of A Hollow-Fiber Bioreactor: Heparan Regulated Growth Factors-Receptors Binding And Dissociation Analysis, Changjiang Zhang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis demonstrates the use of numerical simulation in predicting the behavior of proteins in a flow environment.

A novel convection-diffusion-reaction computational model is first introduced to simulate fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) binding to its receptor (FGFR) on cell surfaces and regulated by heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) under flow in a bioreactor. The model includes three parts: (1) the flow of medium using incompressible Navier-Stokes equations; (2) the mass transport of FGF-2 using convection-diffusion equations; and (3) the cell surface binding using chemical kinetics. The model consists of a set of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) for flow and …

The Absence Of Abcd2 Reveals A Novel Role For Peroxisomes In The Protection From Metabolic Syndrome, Jingjing Liu

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

ABCD2 (D2) is a peroxisomal ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter that is expressed in brain, adrenal and liver. D2 is transcriptionally regulated by key transcriptional factors that control lipid and glucose metabolism. Therefore, we examined its role in adipose tissue. These studies revealed that D2 is highly abundant in adipose tissue and upregulated during adipogenesis. However, D2 deficiency does not affect either adipogenesis or lipid accumulation. An examination of the lipid profile of adipose tissue revealed the accumulation of C20 and C22 fatty acids in D2 deficient (D2‐/‐) mice. When challenged with a diet enriched in erucic acid (C22:1, 10% …

Advanced Studies On Series Impedance In Waveguides With An Emphasis On Source And Transfer Impedance, Jinghao Liu

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Series impedances, including source and transfer impedances, are commonly used to model a variety of noise sources and noise treatment elements in duct systems. Particle velocity is assumed to be constant on the plane where the series impedances are defined. The research reported herein details investigations into measuring source and transfer impedance. Especially, the measurement and prediction of the transfer impedance of micro-perforated panel (MPP) absorbers is considered.

A wave decomposition method for measuring source impedance and source strength was developed that was purely based on acoustic concepts instead of the equivalent circuit analysis. The method developed is a two-load …

Petrologic, Geochemical, And Geochronologic Constraints On The Tectonic Evolution Of The Southern Appalachian Orogen, Blue Ridge Province Of Western North Carolina, Eric Douglas Anderson

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The Blue Ridge Province of western North Carolina contains a wide variety of metamorphosed igneous and sedimentary rocks that record the tectonic effects of Precambrian and Paleozoic orogenic cycles. Tectonic interpretations of the events that led to the present configuration are varied and often conflicting. This investigation examines metamorphosed mafic rocks that are widely interpreted to have formed during the closure of ocean basins. Metabasites, and specifically eclogites, have a tendency to mark tectonic sutures and frequently preserve pressure (P), temperature (T), and age data (t) that can be gleaned from mineral equilibria and U-Pb isotopic compositions. As such, the …

Analysis Of Two-Year Colleges: Transfer, Retention And Graduation, Darshak P. Patel

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Investment in higher education is typically considered as a static discrete-choice problem where students make post-secondary education choices usually right after high school (Heckman et al., 2006). This is largely aligned with Becker’s human capital theory. As Becker’s theory holds, students’ decisions can alter with the arrival of new information (Weisbrod, 1964). By relaxing the assumption certainty in the human capital model, student education decisions can be modeled using Weisbrod’s option value theory. According to this theory, students reevaluate their lifetime-utility maximizing decisions based on new information acquired in a sequential nature. Students face large uncertainties due to unexpected positive …

Single View Modeling And View Synthesis, Miao Liao

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis develops new algorithms to produce 3D content from a single camera. Today, amateurs can use hand-held camcorders to capture and display the 3D world in 2D, using mature technologies. However, there is always a strong desire to record and re-explore the 3D world in 3D. To achieve this goal, current approaches usually make use of a camera array, which suffers from tedious setup and calibration processes, as well as lack of portability, limiting its application to lab experiments.

In this thesis, I try to produce the 3D contents using a single camera, making it as simple as shooting …

Essays On Income Volatility And Individual Well-Being, Bradley L. Hardy

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation consists of three essays in which I document trends in earnings and income volatility, estimate potential causal mechanisms for changing volatility, and examine the long-term consequences of parental income volatility for children. In essay 2 I document trends in earnings and income volatility of individuals and families using matched data in the March Current Population survey from 1973 to 2009. Essay 3 advances the literature on volatility, using matched data from the CPS to identify demographic and labor market correlates of earnings volatility within education-birth year cohorts. This study collapses the cross-sectional CPS into a pseudo-panel and then …

Identifying Component-Processes Of Executive Functioning That Serve As Risk Factors For Alcohol-Related Aggression, Aaron John Godlaski

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The present investigation determined how different component-processes of executive functioning (EF) acted as risk factors for intoxicated aggression. Participants were 512 (246 men and 266 women) healthy social drinkers between 21 and 35 years of age. EF was measured using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning – Adult Version (BRIEF-A; Roth, Isquith, & Gioia, 2005) that assesses nine EF components. Following the consumption of either an alcohol or a placebo beverage, participants were tested on a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (Taylor, 1967) in which mild electric shocks were received from, and administered to, a …

Interactions And Effects Of Biomolecules On Au Nanomaterial Surfaces, Manish Sethi

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Au nanoparticles are increasingly being used in biological applications. Their use is of interest based upon their unique properties that are achieved at the nanoscale, which includes strong optical absorbances that are size and aggregation state dependent. Such absorbances can be used in sensitive chemical/biological detection schemes where bioligands can be directly attached to the nanoparticle surface using facile methods. Unfortunately, a number of complications persist that prevent their wide-scale use. These limitations include minimal nanoparticle stability in biological-based media of high ionic strength, unknown surface functionalization effects using simple biomolecules, and determining the binding motifs of the ligands to …

Molecular And Genomic Approaches To Understanding Host-Virus Interactions In Shaping The Outcome Of Equine Arteritis Virus Infection, Yun Young Go

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is the causal agent of equine viral arteritis, a disease of equids. During natural outbreaks of the disease, EAV can cause abortion in pregnant mares and persistent infection in stallions. Understanding how host cellular proteins interact with viral RNA and viral proteins, as well as their role in viral infection, will enable better characterization of the pathogenesis of EAV and establishment of persistent infection in stallions. Accordingly, we hypothesized that both viral factors and host genetically related factors could influence the outcome of EAV infection in horses. To test this hypothesis, we first combined contemporary molecular …

A Systematic Study Of Thermodynamic And Transport Properties Of Layered 4d And 5d Correlated Electron Systems, Shalinee Chikara

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Correlated electron materials have been at the forefront of condensed matter research in the past couple of decades. Correlation in materials, especially, with open d and f electronic shells often lead to very exciting and intriguing phenomenon like high temperature superconductivity, Mott metal-insulator transition, colossal magnetoresistance (CMR). This thesis focuses on triple-layered Sr₄Ru₃O₁₀, Sr substituted double layered (Ca1-- xA_x)₃Ru₂O₇ (A = Ba, Sr) and 5d system Sr₂IrO₄ and Sr₃Ir₂O₇. Triple-layered Sr₄Ru₃O_{10 …}

Role Of Lipids In Tombusvirus Replication, Monika Sharma

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Positive-strand RNA virus group are the most abundant among viruses affecting plants and animals. To successfully achieve replication, these viruses usurp or co-opt host proteins. To facilitate the discovery of host factors involved in Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV), yeast has been developed as a surrogate model host. Genome-wide approaches covering 95% of yeast genes, has revealed approximately hundred factors that could affect virus replication. Among the identified host factors, there are fourteen yeast genes, which affect/regulate lipid metabolism of the host.

One of the identified host gene is ERG25, which is an important factor for sterol biosynthesis pathway, affecting …

Characterization Of G10h Promoter And Isolation Of Wrky Transcription Factors Involved In Catharanthus Terpenoid Indole Alkaloid Biosynthesis Pathway, Nitima Suttpanta

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Catharanthus roseus produces a large array of terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs) that are an important source of natural or semi-synthetic anticancer drugs. Biosynthesis of TIAs is tissue-specific and induced by certain phytohormones and fungal elicitors, indicating the involvement of a complex transcriptional control network. However, the transcriptional regulation of the TIA pathway is poorly understood. This study reports the isolation and characterization of the G10H promoter and two WRKY transcription factors regulating TIA biosynthesis.

Geraniol 10-hydroxylase (G10H) controls the first committed step in the biosynthesis of terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIA). The C. roseus G10H promoter sequence was isolated by a …