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2011

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The Uniform Law Commission And Cooperative Federalism: Implementing Private International Law Conventions Through Uniform State Laws, William H. Henning Jan 2011

The Uniform Law Commission And Cooperative Federalism: Implementing Private International Law Conventions Through Uniform State Laws, William H. Henning

Faculty Scholarship

The Uniform Law Commission (ULC) is a non-partisan, nonprofit, unincorporated association comprised of commissions formed in each state of the United States and also the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Its mission is "to promote uniformity in the law among the several States on subjects as to which uniformity is desirable and practicable." In the 117 years of its existence, the ULC has produced hundreds of uniform laws and forwarded them to the legislatures of its member jurisdictions for enactment, often with striking and sometimes with universal success. Its premier product, produced in partnership with …

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Robustness Analysis Of Slow Learning In Iterative Learning Control Systems, John R. Singler, Douglas A. Bristow Jan 2011

Robustness Analysis Of Slow Learning In Iterative Learning Control Systems, John R. Singler, Douglas A. Bristow

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper examines robust stability and robust transient growth in Iterative Learning Control (ILC). It is well known that small perturbations in system dynamics can result in very large transient growth of some ILC systems. Even larger perturbations can result in instability. One ad hoc technique commonly employed to improve robustness is to slow the learning rate by reducing the learning filter gain or lowpass filtering the error signal. Here, pseudospectra analysis is used to analyze the robustness of ILC algorithms with slow learning. It is found that robustness bounds can be increased and transient growth decreased with decreasing learning …

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Reconfiguring Phenomena Of Presence, Erika Strickland Jan 2011

Reconfiguring Phenomena Of Presence, Erika Strickland

Theses

Not included

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Markov Chain Monte Carlo On The Gpu, Michael Dumont Jan 2011

Markov Chain Monte Carlo On The Gpu, Michael Dumont

Theses

Markov chains are a useful tool in statistics that allow us to sample and model a large population of individuals. We can extend this idea to the challenge of sampling solutions to problems. Using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques we can also attempt to approximate the number of solutions with a certain confidence based on the number of samples we use to compute our estimate. Even though this approximation works very well for getting accurate results for very large problems, it is still computationally intensive. Many of the current algorithms use parallel implementations to improve their performance. Modern day …

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Scientific Visualization Using Pixar's Renderman, John Lukasiewicz Jan 2011

Scientific Visualization Using Pixar's Renderman, John Lukasiewicz

Theses

This thesis will attempt to visualize astrophysical data that is proprocessed and formatted by the Spiegel software using Pixar's RenderMan. The output will consist of a large set of points and data associated with each point. The goal is to create images that are both informative and aesthetically pleasing to the viewer. This has been done many times before with software rendering and APIs such as OpenGL or JOGL. This thesis will use Pixar's Photorealistic RenderMan, or PRMan for short, as a renderer. PRMan is an industry proven standard renderer that is based on the RenderMan Interface Specification which has …

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Botnet Lab Creation With Open Source Tools And Usefulness Of Such A Tool For Researchers, Dimitris Vergos Jan 2011

Botnet Lab Creation With Open Source Tools And Usefulness Of Such A Tool For Researchers, Dimitris Vergos

Theses

Botnets are large scale networks, which can span across the internet and comprise of computers, which have been infected by malicious software and are centrally controlled from a remote location. Botnets pose a great security risk and their size has been rising drastically over the past few years. The use of botnets by the underground community as a medium for online crime, bundled with their use for profit has shined the spotlight on them. Numerous researchers have proposed and designed infrastructures and frameworks that identify newly formed botnets and their traffic patterns. In this research, the design of a unified …

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A Semantic Agent Framework For Cyber-Physical Systems, Jing Lin, Sahra Sedigh, Ann K. Miller Jan 2011

A Semantic Agent Framework For Cyber-Physical Systems, Jing Lin, Sahra Sedigh, Ann K. Miller

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The development of accurate models for cyber-physical systems (CPSs) is hampered by the complexity of these systems, fundamental differences in the operation of cyber and physical components, and significant interdependencies among these components. Agent-based modeling shows promise in overcoming these challenges, due to the flexibility of software agents as autonomous and intelligent decision-making components. Semantic agent systems are even more capable, as the structure they provide facilitates the extraction of meaningful content from the data provided to the software agents. In this book chapter, we present a multi-agent model for a CPS, where the semantic capabilities are underpinned by sensor …

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Cellular Network Monitoring System Based On Subscriber Units, Victor Silva Jan 2011

Cellular Network Monitoring System Based On Subscriber Units, Victor Silva

Theses

The normal approach to assess signal quality parameters in a wireless network requires performing what is known as a drive test. A drive test consists on driving a vehicle equipped with a wireless measurement toll box around the area of interest, in order to take measures of several wireless signal parameters. Drive testing is a time consuming activity often affected by external factors such as vehicular traffic congestion and others. The slowness of the process makes this technique impractical when the goal is to measure the impact caused by minor changes on the network; when you need something like a …

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Service Level Agreements And Virtual Machines, Jordan Caminiti Jan 2011

Service Level Agreements And Virtual Machines, Jordan Caminiti

Theses

Virtual machines (VMs) have been used for some time now, but only now with the newer and faster hardware that is being developed, now it is possible to consolidate many machines down to a single one running multiple instances of operating systems each with their own purpose. For as long as there have been users to use the servers, there has been the need for service level agreements. Now with the virtualization of services comes the need for a new breed of service level agreements. Service level agreements (SLAs) rarely exist for virtual servers unlike physical servers. Since this is …

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The Brady Rule May Hurt The Innocent, N. Garoupa, Matteo Rizzolli Jan 2011

The Brady Rule May Hurt The Innocent, N. Garoupa, Matteo Rizzolli

Faculty Scholarship

Mandatory disclosure of evidence (the so-called Brady rule) is considered to be among the most important bulwarks against prosecutorial misconduct. While protecting the generality of defendants in the criminal process, we show that under certain reasonable assumptions this procedural mechanism may hurt innocent defendants by inducing prosecutors to adjust their behavior to their detriment. The main rationale for our thesis is that, if forced to reveal exculpatory information, the prosecutor might not look for that information in the first place, and in turn this could harm the innocent under certain reasonable conditions. We extensively discuss our results in the context …

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Low Vision Assistance With Mobile Devices, Mark Stump Jan 2011

Low Vision Assistance With Mobile Devices, Mark Stump

Theses

Low vision affects many people, both young and old. Low vision conditions can range from near- and far-sightedness to conditions such as blind spots and tunnel vision. With the growing popularity of mobile devices such as smartphones, there is large opportunity for use of these multipurpose devices to provide low vision assistance. Furthermore, Google's Android operating system provides a robust environment for applications in various fields, including low vision assistance. The objective of this thesis research is to develop a system for low vision assistance that displays important information at the preferred location of the user's visual field. To that …

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An Experiential Comparative Analysis Of Two Remote Usability Testing Methods, Erika Varga Jan 2011

An Experiential Comparative Analysis Of Two Remote Usability Testing Methods, Erika Varga

Theses

Remote usability testing is a key tool for usability professionals. Several remote methods exist and it is often difficult to choose the appropriate method. Testing lower-fidelity prototypes often present unique problems because they provide minimally aesthetic and minimally interactive partial representations of a final product. This qualitative and experiential pilot study is an attempt to compare a remote synchronous (RS) usability testing method where the moderator and participant are displaced by space, and a remote asynchronous (RA) usability testing method where the moderator and participant are displaced by both time and space. An important byproduct of the comparison is the …

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Audience Feedback As An Influence On Graphic Design Problem Solving, Christopher Petrides Jan 2011

Audience Feedback As An Influence On Graphic Design Problem Solving, Christopher Petrides

Theses

User-generated feedback is arguably the most efficient tool to evaluate a specific product or service. Even though it is widely used to evaluate and subsequently improve video game design, it is not commonly used for graphic design applications. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate how user-generated feedback can be utilized to improve existing graphic design applications. Specifically, three types of feedback collection vehicles were selected for use in graphic design: personal observation, evaluation polls, and existing video game design feedback. In order to demonstrate the advantage of using user generated feedback, information collected through the feedback collection vehicles …

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Layout-Based Substitution Tree Indexing And Retrieval For Mathematical Expressions, Matthew Schellenberg Jan 2011

Layout-Based Substitution Tree Indexing And Retrieval For Mathematical Expressions, Matthew Schellenberg

Theses

We introduce a new system for layout-based indexing and retrieval of mathematical expressions using substitution trees. Substitution trees can efficiently store and find hierarchically-structured data based on similarity. Previously Kolhase and Sucan applied substitution trees to indexing mathematical expressions in operator tree representation (Content MathML) and query-by-expression retrieval. In this investigation, we use substitution trees to index mathematical expressions in symbol layout tree representation (LaTeX) to group expressions based on the similarity of their symbols, symbol layout, sub-expressions and size. We describe our novel substitution tree indexing and retrieval algorithms and our many significant contributions to the behavior of these …

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African-American Accountants Then And Now: A Longitudinal Study Of Factors Influencing Perceptions Of The Workplace, Tammi C. Redd, Glen D. Moyes, Jun Sun Jan 2011

African-American Accountants Then And Now: A Longitudinal Study Of Factors Influencing Perceptions Of The Workplace, Tammi C. Redd, Glen D. Moyes, Jun Sun

Information Systems Faculty Publications

This study addresses the question of whether African-American accounting professionals perceive levels of job satisfaction and other work attributes differently over time as they gain experience in accounting practice. We examine how the elements that influence job satisfaction and perceptions of the workplace have changed over time for these accounting professionals. We contend that the evolution of the workforce and work itself have set forth contemporary workplace attitudes challenging Herzbergs (1959, 1966) Two-Factor Theory. Archival and newly collected data are combined to generate a longitudinal perspective on the African-Americans perception of job satisfaction and other work attributes specific to the …

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As I Recall..., Megan Gulland Jan 2011

As I Recall..., Megan Gulland

Theses

This body of work presents a visual memoir of my childhood. Told through these self-portraits, this work captures the essence of my memories. Though the sculptures portray my present age as storyteller, the content comes from my childhood. I am exploring the roots of my love of storytelling by joining my passion for clay with the events of my past. The process of making these portraits, for me, closely reflects the process of growing up. In a similar way, as I built, I learned the limits and possibilities of the clay. Now, even as an adult I reflect on my …

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Polynomial Extension Operators. Part Iii, Leszek Demkowicz, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Joachim Schöberl Jan 2011

Polynomial Extension Operators. Part Iii, Leszek Demkowicz, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Joachim Schöberl

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this concluding part of a series of papers on tetrahedral polynomial extension operators, the existence of a polynomial extension operator in the Sobolev space H(div) is proven constructively. Specifically, on any tetrahedron K, given a function w on the boundary ∂K that is a polynomial on each face, the extension operator applied to w gives a vector function whose components are polynomials of at most the same degree in the tetrahedron. The vector function is an extension in the sense that the trace of its normal component on the boundary ∂K coincides with w. Furthermore, the extension operator is …

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Commuting Smoothed Projectors In Weighted Norms With An Application To Axisymmetric Maxwell Equations, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Minah Oh Jan 2011

Commuting Smoothed Projectors In Weighted Norms With An Application To Axisymmetric Maxwell Equations, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Minah Oh

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We construct finite element projectors that can be applied to functions with low regularity. These projectors are continuous in a weighted norm arising naturally when modeling devices with axial symmetry. They have important commuting diagram properties needed for finite element analysis. As an application, we use the projectors to prove quasioptimal convergence for the edge finite element approximation of the axisymmetric time-harmonic Maxwell equations on nonsmooth domains. Supplementary numerical investigations on convergence deterioration at high wavenumbers and near Maxwell eigenvalues and are also reported.

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Symmetric Nonconforming Mixed Finite Elements For Linear Elasticity, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Johnny Guzmán Jan 2011

Symmetric Nonconforming Mixed Finite Elements For Linear Elasticity, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Johnny Guzmán

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present a family of mixed methods for linear elasticity that yield exactly symmetric, but only weakly conforming, stress approximations. The method is presented in both two and three dimensions (on triangular and tetrahedral meshes). The method is efficiently implementable by hybridization. The degrees of freedom of the Lagrange multipliers, which approximate the displacements at the faces, solve a symmetric positive-definite system. The design and analysis of this method is motivated by a new set of unisolvent degrees of freedom for symmetric polynomial matrices. These new degrees of freedom are also used to give a new simple calculation of the …

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Balance Systems And The Variational Bicomplex, Serge Preston Jan 2011

Balance Systems And The Variational Bicomplex, Serge Preston

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this work we show that the systems of balance equations (balance systems) of continuum thermodynamics occupy a natural place in the variational bicomplex formalism. We apply the vertical homotopy decomposition to get a local splitting (in a convenient domain) of a general balance system as the sum of a Lagrangian part and a complemental "pure non-Lagrangian" balance system. In the case when derivatives of the dynamical fields do not enter the constitutive relations of the balance system, the "pure non-Lagrangian" systems coincide with the systems introduced by S. Godunov [Soviet Math. Dokl. 2 (1961), 947–948] and, later, asserted as …

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Alternative Crankshaft Mechanisms And Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems For Improved Fuel Economy Of Passenger Cars, Alberto A. Boretti, Joseph Scalzo, Houshang Masudi Jan 2011

Alternative Crankshaft Mechanisms And Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems For Improved Fuel Economy Of Passenger Cars, Alberto A. Boretti, Joseph Scalzo, Houshang Masudi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The paper presents a novel design of a variable compression ratio advanced spark ignition engine that also permits an expansion ratio that may differ from the compression ratio therefore generating an Atkinson cycle effect. the stroke ratio and the ratio of maximum to minimum in-cylinder volumes may change with load and speed to provide the best fuel conversion efficiency. the variable ratio of maximum to minimum in-cylinder volumes also improves the full load power output of the engine. Brake specific fuel consumption maps are computed for a gasoline engine 2 Liters, in-line four, turbocharged and direct injection showings significant fuel …

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Four Constitutional Limits That The Minimum Coverage Provision Respects, Neil S. Siegel Jan 2011

Four Constitutional Limits That The Minimum Coverage Provision Respects, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

Opponents of the minimum coverage provision in the Affordable Care Act charge that if Congress can require most people to obtain health insurance or pay a certain amount of money, then Congress can impose whatever mandates it wishes - or, at least, whatever purchase mandates it wishes. This Essay refutes that claim by identifying four limits on the Commerce Clause that the minimum coverage provision honors. Congress may not use its commerce power: (1) to regulate noneconomic subject matter; (2) to impose a regulation that violates constitutional rights, including the right to bodily integrity; (3) to regulate at all, including …

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Use Of Bio-Ethanol And Bio-Diesel The Key Solution For A More Sustainable Road Transport, Alberto Boretti Jan 2011

Use Of Bio-Ethanol And Bio-Diesel The Key Solution For A More Sustainable Road Transport, Alberto Boretti

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of alternative transportation fuels clearly shows the advantages of reducing the use of nonrenewable fossil fuels vs. renewable biologic novel fuels to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide. Being based on the natural recycle of carbon dioxide through the use of renewable energy sources, use of these renewable fuels does not imply depletion of natural resources and is therefore sustainable in the long term. Renewable fuels and advanced internal combustion engines and powertrains are the technologies that in addition to be the most likely to produce benefits in term of carbon balance and fossil fuel saving, …

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Assessment Of Turbulence-Chemistry Interaction In Hypersonic Turbulent Boundary Layers, L. (Lian) Duan, M. P. Martín Jan 2011

Assessment Of Turbulence-Chemistry Interaction In Hypersonic Turbulent Boundary Layers, L. (Lian) Duan, M. P. Martín

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Studies of the turbulence-chemistry interaction are performed in hypersonic turbulent boundary layers using direct numerical simulation flow fields under typical hypersonic conditions representative of blunt-body and slender body hypersonic vehicles, with super catalytic and noncatalytic wall conditions in pure air. Nondimensional governing parameters, the interaction Damköhler number and the interaction relative heat release, are proposed to measure the influence of turbulence-chemistry interaction on flow composition and temperature. Both a priori and posteriori studies are performed to assess the effect of turbulence-chemistry interaction on chemical production rates and mean and turbulent flow characteristics. It is found that the governing parameters provide …

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Collegeville Institute For Ecumenical And Cultural Research, Peggy L. Roske Jan 2011

Collegeville Institute For Ecumenical And Cultural Research, Peggy L. Roske

Archives History Lessons

No abstract provided.

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Employee Benefits History, Peggy L. Roske Jan 2011

Employee Benefits History, Peggy L. Roske

Archives History Lessons

No abstract provided.

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Saint John's - 75 Year Ago (1936), Peggy L. Roske Jan 2011

Saint John's - 75 Year Ago (1936), Peggy L. Roske

Archives History Lessons

No abstract provided.

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Investigation Of The Effect Of Geometry And Surface Properties On Water Buildup In Pem Fuel Cell Gas Channel Corners, Cody Rath Jan 2011

Investigation Of The Effect Of Geometry And Surface Properties On Water Buildup In Pem Fuel Cell Gas Channel Corners, Cody Rath

Theses

Over the past few decades, polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells have been gaining increased attention as a possible replacement for the internal combustion engine. Fuel cell vehicles are an attractive alternative because of the fact that they can operate without the use of fossil fuels, are more efficient than internal combustion vehicles, and have no harmful emissions with the only byproducts being heat and pure water. Managing this water has been shown to be a key area of research. In order for fuel cells to operate properly, there must be a certain level of hydration present in the membrane; …

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The Specter Of Nature, Stephanie Clark Jan 2011

The Specter Of Nature, Stephanie Clark

Theses

The Specter of Nature is a photographic series that examines the tenuous boundaries between culture and Nature. Through this thesis, I address how, within culture, Nature is defined, distorted, fantasized and then realized through various forms of representation. To this end, Nature historically serves as a backdrop in culturally constructed fantasies and storytelling, as well as historically playing a role in the development of a female identity. The Specter of Nature,examines these concerns through staged photographs of settings created from fabrics and cutouts of decorative papers. By cutting along the patterns embedded in materials such as wrapping papers, wallpapers, scrapbooking …

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Title Page Jan 2011

Title Page

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

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