Digital Commons Network^™

Quantum Electrodynamics And Fundamental Constants, Benedikt J. Wundt

Doctoral Dissertations

"The unprecedented precision achieved both in the experimental measurements as well as in the theoretical description of atomic bound states make them an ideal study object for fundamental physics and the determination of fundamental constants. This requires a careful study of the effects from quantum electrodynamics (QED) on the interaction between the electron and the nucleus.

The two theoretical approaches for the evaluation of QED corrections are presented and discussed. Due to the presence of two energy scales from the binding potential and the radiation field, an overlapping parameter has to be used in both the approaches in order to …

Examination Of The Mitochondrial Health Of The Basigin Null Mouse Retina, Kristine Anne V. Pablo

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Basigin gene products are cell adhesion molecules that are expressed by photoreceptor cells, Müller cells and endothelial cells of the mammalian retina. Previous studies have suggested that a lactate shuttle exists between the photoreceptor cells and the Müller cells, with Basigin being an essential component in this shuttle. Deletion of the Basigin gene in mice results in blindness with an eventual retinal degeneration. It was hypothesized that the lactate shuttle between photoreceptors and Müller cells does not form in Basigin null mice and that the blindness is attributed to faulty photoreceptor metabolism. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to …

Leadership Characteristics And Practices Of Selected High-Performing Nonprofit Organizations In Northeast Florida, Janie Karen Smalley

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The nonprofit sector plays a vital role in the quality of life in any community. Challenges such as economic fluctuations, the organization’s image in the community, and adverse legislative policies threaten the vitality of organizations. It is incumbent upon nonprofit leaders to help their organizations overcome these challenges. It is therefore important to understand leadership characteristics and practices of organizations that achieve a high-level of performance and have the ability to overcome threats to their success. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine the nonprofit sector in northeast Florida, identify a selected sample of high-performing organizations, and understand …

An Originalist Congress?, Joel Alicea

Scholarly Articles

Among the campaign promises Republicans made to voters this fall was a pledge that every piece of proposed legislation would cite the constitutional provision that authorizes it. Given lawmakers' reliance on the courts to determine the constitutionality of our laws, the new majority's promise could open some fascinating — and useful — debates. Chief among them: Just how should Congress interpret the Constitution?

Reliability And Sensitivity Of Physical Activity Under Free-Living Conditions As A Measure Of Function Following Ankle And Foot Injuries, Lisa Nicole Bengtson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Context: Assessing outcomes measure, with pedometers, allows a practitioner to monitor an injury throughout recovery. Therefore, to be utilized in practice and research, step counts should be able to effectively detect changes in physical activity, under free-living conditions, throughout recovery following an ankle or foot injury for student-athletes. Therefore the purpose of this study was to provide evidence of reliability and sensitivity for physical activity under free-living conditions, via step counts, as a measure of function during recovery (3-14 days) following ankle and foot injuries for student athletes. Objective: Determine the reliability and sensitivity of physical activity under free-living conditions, …

Architecture Value Mapping: Using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps As A Reasoning Mechanism For Multi-Criteria Conceptual Design Evaluation, Atmika Singh

Doctoral Dissertations

"The conceptual design phase is the most critical phase in the systems engineering life cycle. The design concept chosen during this phase determines the structure and behavior of the system, and consequently, its ability to fulfill its intended function. A good conceptual design is the first step in the development of a successful artifact. However, decision-making during conceptual design is inherently challenging and often unreliable. The conceptual design phase is marked by an ambiguous and imprecise set of requirements, and ill-defined system boundaries. A lack of usable data for design evaluation makes the problem worse. In order to assess a …

Defining The “Good” Mother: Examining The Myths Of Motherhood And The Hierarchical Construction Of Femininity In Weeds And Weekly Magazines, Johnanna Joy Ganz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Throughout this thesis  investigate how images of motherhood in popular culture rely on specific ideological "myths" to convey implicit messages about appropriate femininity. To examine the depictions of motherhood I performed a textual analysis of the contents of the first two seasons of the television program Weeds as well as randomly sampled issues of the following celebrity gossip magazines: People Weekly, US Weekly, In Touch Weekly, and Life & Style Weekly. In order to make sense of the data, I rely on the theoretical concept of hegemonic femininity, as developed by Mimi Schippers. Additionally, I offer a more nuanced argument …

Parent Involvement And Academic Achievement, Patrick Andrew Lussenhop

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Research has shown that increasing parental involvement has a positive impact on the academic performance of students yet, for a variety of reasons, many schools struggle to get parents involved. Providing online data systems to communicate student progress with parents is one way schools may encourage parent involvement in their children's education. This study explores the relationship between parent use of an online data system and student academic achievement. Data from a Student Information System (SIS), including course grades, grade point average, attendance, and parent log-in information, was gathered over a four year period for a cohort of students from …

Administration Response Of Nonprofit Organizations Due To The 2007-2009 Recession, Kelsey Belle Marie Wegner

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In December of 2007, a recession began in the United States that affected nearly every aspect of the economy. The Great Recession created a global meltdown of numerous sectors including the nonprofit sector. The nonprofit sector is a significant part of the United States economy, making up more than 10 percent of employment and has approximately 1.4 million nonprofit organizations registered with the Internal Revenue Service. The researcher examined what effect the recession had on nonprofit organizations. The purpose of the study is to determine how the recession that began in 2007 has impacted 501(c) nonprofit organizations in five United …

The Effects Of Bat Velocity And Bat Quickness On Offensive Statistical Performance In Ncaa Division I Female Softball Players, Thomas Manford Flack

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of bat velocity and quickness on offensive statistical performance of six members of the University of Northern Iowa's women's Division I softball team. Each of the participants was requested to engage in a warm-up and stretching routine to minimize injuries due to the high force generated during isometric contraction and maximal swings. Data collection procedures were performed in one session for each subject. Reflective spherical markers were placed on the distal end of the softball bat, the proximal end of the bat as well as an additional marker in the …

An Analysis Of Managing Waste And Decreasing Lead Time In A Medium Sized Manufacturing Company, Tahir Murgic

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The importance of managing waste and reducing lead time in manufacturing cannot be denied. This study provides knowledge about both topics in a medium sized manufacturing company. The methodology that is used in this research is mixed methodology. Interviews were done with managers, and they were analyzed qualitatively. The next part is the quantitative research part that is done by asking employees via questionnaire. This study provided the close concepts of JIT (Just in Time) and waste management. Management must be committed to change, to train everyone to the new culture, to ensure that the organization's culture fosters employee participation, …

From A Weak Tribual To A Branch Of Government: The Supreme Court Of The United States From 1789 To Marshall, Dale Edward Paul Yurs

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Each branch of the federal government has changed substantially since its creation in 1789. Today, the people directly elect both houses of Congress and citizens hold the President more accountable for his actions. The federal judiciary has grown as well. The third branch of government may have started as a fairly weak tribunal, but during the early national period it grew to an equal branch of government. The Justices redefined the judiciary by their own actions. They worked to amend the circuit riding requirements, adopted a new style of opinions, and asserted the authority of judicial review. Through primary evidence, …

The Constitutional Right Not To Participate In Abortions: Roe, Casey, And The Fourteenth Amendment Rights Of Healthcare Providers, Mark L. Rienzi

Scholarly Articles

The Fourteenth Amendment rights of various parties in the abortion context – the pregnant woman, the fetus, the fetus’ father, the state – have been discussed at length by commentators and the courts. Surprisingly, the Fourteenth Amendment rights of the healthcare provider asked to provide the abortion have not. Roe and Casey establish a pregnant woman’s Fourteenth Amendment right to decide for herself whether to have an abortion. Do those same precedents also protect her doctor’s right to decide whether to participate in abortion procedures?

The Court’s substantive due process analysis typically looks for rights that are “deeply rooted” in …

A Collective Case Study Of Mobile E-Book Learning Experiences, Jeffrey Scott Kissinger

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research was designed to explore the learning experiences of state college students using mobile e-book readers. The purpose of the study was to build a rich description of how students used electronic textbooks delivered on mobile computing devices for college-level, introductory sociology courses. This research employed a multiple case study design that thoroughly investigated and documented student experiences with this instructional technology.

The bounding frame was comprised of the literature on mobile technology, mobile learning theories, and e-books. Situated within the mobile learning framework was a theoretical lens of learning theories commonly found in the literature on mobile learning …

On The Design Of Web Services: Soap Vs. Rest, Pavan Kumar Potti

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to compare the performance characteristics of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and Representational State Transfer (REST), which are methods of supporting interactions among Web services. They differ in both context and usage; SOAP is a protocol while REST is architecture. SOAP is a well-developed protocol used in the Web industry and is standardized by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). REST is the outcome of Dr. Roy Thomas Fielding’s 2000 PhD dissertation, “Architectural Styles and the Design of Network-Based Software Architecture.” REST is gaining in popularity due to its simplicity, scalability, and architectural dependence …

Assessing The Effects Of Pollutant Exposure On Sharks: A Biomarker Approach, Christina J. Walker

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many hydrophobic environmental pollutants have been shown to bioaccumulate and biomagnify at high levels in sharks due to their high liver lipid content, high trophic level, and life history characteristics. Studies have demonstrated that the levels of pollutants present in shark tissues can not only exceed the recommended levels for human consumption, but that, in some cases, they are also greater than the threshold for physiological effect in other aquatic species. However, few studies to date have investigated the biological effect of environmental exposure to contaminants in sharks. Therefore, the goal of this study was to investigate, through the use …

Resurrecting The Bogeyman: The Curious Forms Of The Substantial Burden Test In Rluipa, Adam J. Macleod

Scholarly Articles

In 2000 Congress revived strict scrutiny review of regulations that substantially burden religious land use when it enacted the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Many worry that RLUIPA creates a blanket exemption for religious institutions from neutral laws of general application, and that it threatens principles of federalism. A decade of experience with RLUIPA shows that these fears are unfounded. Indeed, the United States Courts of Appeals have gone out of their way to constrain the reach of RLUIPA's substantial burden provision. They have imposed upon the provision some creative interpretations, many of which are inconsistent with …

Plato's Theory Of Democratic Decline, Brenner M. Fissell

Faculty Publications

While democracy is derided for a variety of reasons in Plato’s thought, his most damning critique of that regime type does not involve an observation about democracy qua democracy, but of the transition that it so easily engenders: the decline to tyranny. Regimes are composed of individuals and groups, though, and Plato is anxious to ascribe culpability for the degradation. Two actors are the primary focus of his analysis — the political leaders and the demos. At times he emphasizes the puissance of the demos, but in other passages he suggests it is the leaders who are most authoritative. This …

The Justification Of Positve Law In Plato, Brenner M. Fissell

Faculty Publications

This article argues that Platonic legal philosophy views positive law as justified only because of the problems inherent in human nature, and not, contra natural law thinkers, because of its rationality.

Reviving Slander, Cristina Carmody Tilley

Faculty Publications

Roman law treated differently speech restricted to small, closed communities and speech within or among large, permeable communities. Intracommunity speech was subject to unlimited tort consequences, while intercommunity speech was subject to central government regulation. As English speech law evolved, slander rules governing spoken speech became a convenient proxy for intracommunity speech regulation, while libel rules governing written speech became a convenient proxy for intercommunity speech. In American law, the conceptual collapse of slander and libel meant that constitutional limits designed to lift central government regulation of intercommunity speech perhaps inadvertently vitiated tort consequences for intracommunity speech. The Supreme Court's …

A Kindle In The Classroom: E-Reading Devices And Reading Habits, Leigh Gardener

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

No abstract provided.

Cultural Tolerance Scale For Mexico, Benjamin Ross Jensen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

It is important to understand and respect the many different cultures that exist in the world today. With instant communication and efficient transportation, exposure to other cultures is readily available. When so many different cultures are in close proximity to each other there is an increased possibility that there will be misunderstandings between the two groups. Given the potential problems to work and society that can be caused by cross-cultural misunderstanding, it would be useful to know how culturally tolerant certain individuals are. The purpose of the current study was to develop a Cultural Tolerance Scale based on realistic hypothetical …

There Will Be Blood ... Testing: The Intersection Of Professional Sports And The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Of 2008, Jesse A. Bland

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Genetic testing, professional baseball, and employment discrimination seldom intersect. This Note changes that. Thanks to scientific breakthroughs in genetic research over the past half-century, genetic testing is a powerful tool for producing rich, individualized information. Progress comes at a price, however. As genetic testing has advanced and become more prevalent, so too has the potential misuse of genetic information. A recently enacted federal law--the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)--seeks to eliminate one such threat by prohibiting the improper use of genetic information in employment decisions. While the law gained congressional momentum after tales of abuse in blue-collar industries, …

The Anti-Bootlegging Provisions: Congressional Power And Constitutional Limitations, Craig W. Dallon

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Courts and scholars have considered the constitutional validity of 17 U.S.C. § 1101 (civil), and 18 U.S.C. § 2319A (criminal), known together as "the anti-bootlegging provisions." These provisions prohibit unauthorized recording, copying, and distribution of live musical performances. The provisions have been challenged in three cases, resulting in five published opinions. Two district court opinions held the provisions unconstitutional, but subsequent opinions vacated those decisions. Notwithstanding a sharp division among copyright scholars, the courts have upheld these provisions. The discussion surrounding them is part of a continuing struggle to ascertain limits on congressional power to regulate copying and distribution of …

The Kindle Controversy: An Economic Analysis Of How The Amazon Kindle's Text-To-Speech Feature Violates Copyright Law, Jeremy B. Francis

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In 2009, Amazon released the Kindle 2 with a text-to-speech feature. This feature allows users of the Kindle 2 to download software to the device that will read e-books aloud. Authors and publishers of e-books immediately objected to the feature, arguing that it essentially created an unauthorized audiobook. Amazon maintained the legality of the text-to-speech feature, arguing that it does not copy, perform, or create a derivative work. Amazon decided to avoid a legal battle by allowing rightsholders to decide whether to enable the text-to-speech feature for each individual title. The copyright community, however, responded swiftly and nearly unanimously, siding …

Copyright In Memoriam, Julie C. Young

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Can a government infringe upon a work dedicated to the memory of its people? The February 2010 Federal Circuit decision "Gaylord v. United States" addresses that question, but any satisfaction from the decision presupposes that the government should be held liable for such an infringement. Consistent with the 1976 Copyright Act, the Gaylord decision preserves the author's rights, paying no regard to the identity of the audience or the infringer. From a policy perspective, however, the result is dubious. Arguably, if a work is a public memorial, and paid for with public funds, it should immediately enter the public domain. …

Hacking Into Federal Court: Employee "Authorization" Under The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act, Thomas E. Booms

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Few would disagree that computers play an important role in modern United States society. However, many would be surprised to discover the modest amount of legislation governing computer use. Congress began addressing computer crime in 1984 by enacting the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The CFAA represented the first piece of federal legislation governing computer crimes and has undergone eight amendments to date, making it one of the most expansive criminal laws in the United States. In 1994, Congress added a civil provision opening the door for application of the statute in novel situations. Initially enacted to target crimes …

Cloudy Privacy Protections: Why The Stored Communications Act Fails To Protect The Privacy Of Communications Stored In The Cloud, Ilana R. Kattan

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The advent of new communications technologies has generated debate over the applicability of the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement to communications sent through, and stored in, technologies not anticipated by the Framers. In 1986, Congress responded to perceived gaps in the protections of the warrant requirement as applied to newer technologies, such as email, by passing the Stored Communications Act (SCA). As originally enacted, the SCA attempted to balance the interests of law enforcement against individual privacy rights by dictating the mechanisms by which the government could compel a particular service provider to disclose communications stored on behalf of its customers. …

Rebuilding The Prevent Defense: Why Unethical Agents Continue To Score And What Can Be Done To Change The Game, R. Alexander Payne

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Despite decades of regulation, college athletics continues to face problems stemming from agents' unethical and illegal tactics in recruiting student-athletes. The NCAA, Congress, state legislatures, and professional players unions have all sought to regulate the interaction between athletes and agents in various ways, often leading to conflicts and gaps within existing laws, which some agents readily exploit. Agents frequently slip through the law's porous prevent defense while the brunt of enforcement and public opprobrium falls on unsophisticated student-athletes and their schools--who are frequently outsiders to the saga. This Note explores the causes resulting in an atmosphere of noncompliance, including the …

Cyberspace, Exceptionalism, And Innocent Copyright Infringement, Jacqueline D. Lipton

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Direct copyright infringement attracts strict liability. However, as a theoretical matter, it is not necessarily clear why. Legislatures and courts have typically imposed strict liability where: (a) a defendant has notice of a plaintiff's rights, particularly where those rights involve a property interest; (b) a mens rea requirement on the part of the defendant would create an untenable burden on the plaintiff; (c) it is easier for the defendant to avoid harming the plaintiff than it is for the plaintiff to avoid the harm; or, (d) it is more administratively or economically efficient for the defendant to bear the risk …