Digital Commons Network^™

"Gray Zone" Constitutionalism And The Dilemma Of Judicial Independence In Pakistan, Anil Kalhan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Many countries exist in a "gray zone" between authoritarianism and democracy. For countries in this conceptual space--which is particularly relevant today given the halting path of change in the Arab world--scholars, judges, and rule of law activists conventionally urge an abstract notion of' judicial independence" as a prerequisite for successful democratic transition. Only recently, for example, Pakistan's judiciary was widely lauded for its "independence" in challenging the military regime. However, judicial independence is neither an all-or-nothing concept nor an end in itself. With the return of civilian rule in Pakistan, a series of clashes between Parliament and the Supreme Court …

Gender-Twisting And Bros Talking: Discursive Performance Of Gender, Power, And Recognition In The Sex Ed. Class, Odile Mattiauda

Open Access Dissertations

In American Schools, students are rarely offered educational experiences about gender and sexuality. Programs that do address sexuality are rarely based on moral beliefs and democratic values of tolerance and inclusivity. Sexuality education is predominantly taught by health teachers, rather than human sexuality educators, and their focus is on facts, statistics, and controversial issues such as the prevention of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. This limited perspective on sexuality neglects the important role of gender identity and sexual orientation (Donovan, 1989; Haffner & De Mauro, 1991; Nelson Trudell, 1993)

Using teacher-researcher-participant-observer qualitative methodology, I examined the discourse …

Removing Revlon, Franklin A. Gevurtz

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

This Article advocates the abolition of the Revlon doctrine— the junior partner in Delaware’s corporate takeover jurisprudence, which governs certain contests involving auctions and sales of control. Revlon arose in the twilight zone created by the overlap between defenses to hostile tender offers and efforts by directors to avoid or coerce a shareholder vote on corporate mergers and sales (shotgun corporate marriages). The narrow holding of the case stands for the common sense proposition that if directors decide to sell their corporation by choosing between two bids, both of which will pay all of the shareholders cash for all of …

A Semantics-Based Approach To Machine Perception, Cory Andrew Henson

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Machine perception can be formalized using semantic web technologies in order to derive abstractions from sensor data using background knowledge on the Web, and efficiently executed on resource-constrained devices. Advances in sensing technology hold the promise to revolutionize our ability to observe and understand the world around us. Yet the gap between observation and understanding is vast. As sensors are becoming more advanced and cost-effective, the result is an avalanche of data of high volume, velocity, and of varied type, leading to the problem of too much data and not enough knowledge (i.e., insights leading to actions). Current estimates predict …

Being Ethically Minded: Practising The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning In An Ethical Manner, Ruth L. Healey, Tina Bass, Johnette (Jay) Caulfield, Adam Hoffman, Michelle K. Mcginn, Janice Miller-Young, Martin Haigh

Management Faculty Research and Publications

The authors propose a working definition of ethical Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), advance an ethical framework for SoTL inquiry, and present a case study that illustrates the complexity of ethical issues in SoTL. The Ethical SoTL Matrix is a flexible framework designed to support SoTL practitioners, particularly in the formative stages of their inquiries. Three dominant ethical traditions form the basis of the matrix: teleological or pragmatic, external, and deontological. The key message of the paper is that SoTL practitioners should reflect on different perspectives in their efforts to do what is right in any given situation. The …

Rice, Tobacco, And Agricultural Globalization: Exploring The Narrative Of The Chinese Agricultural Colony In Sub-Saharan Africa, Hunter Bradley

Geography Honors Projects

According to media outlets, China's involvement in the Sub-Saharan African agricultural sector is part of a colonial land grab to meet the needs of a modernizing China. This paper challenges this narrative by examining the two constituent narrative elements: 1) China actively purchases land or land rights to meet the food needs at home and 2) that this process has led to decreased food security for African states. Using Zimbabwe and Mozambique as cases, this paper demonstrates China's participation is not part of a long-term food security strategy and is better understood in light of the "Go Out Policy." However, …

Semsos : An Architecture For Query, Insertion, And Discovery For Semantic Sensor Networks, Joshua Kenneth Pschorr

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With sensors, storage, and bandwidth becoming ever cheaper, there has been a drive recently to make sensor data accessible on the Web. However, because of the vast number of sensors collecting data about our environment, finding relevant sensors on the Web and then interpreting their observations is a non-trivial challenge. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) defines a web service specification known as the Sensor Observation Service (SOS) that is designed to standardize the way sensors and sensor data are discovered and accessed on the Web. Though this standard goes a long way in providing interoperability between sensor data producers and …

Overview Of The Large-Scale Biosphere–Atmosphere Experiment In Amazonia Data Model Intercomparison Project (Lba-Dmip), Luis Gustavo Goncalves De Goncalves, Jordan Borak, Marcos Heil Costa, Scott R. Saleska, Ian Baker, Natalia Resprepo-Coupe, Michel Nobre Muza, Benjamin Poulter, Hans Verbeeck, Joshua B. Fisher, Altaf Arain, Phillip Arkin, Bruno P. Cestaro, Bradley Christoffersen, David Galbraith, Xiaodan Guan, Bart Van Den Hurk, Kazuhito Ichii, Hewlley Acioli Imbuzeiro, Atul Jain, Naomi Levine, Chaoqun Lu, Gonzalo Migues-Macho, Debora Roberti, Alok Sahoo, Koichi Sakaguchi, Kevin Shaefer, Mingjie Shi, James Shuttleworth, Hanqin Tian, Zong-Lian Yang, Xubin Zeng

United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Publications

A fundamental question connecting terrestrial ecology and global climate change is the sensitivity of key terrestrial biomes to climatic variability and change. The Amazon region is such a key biome: it contains unparalleled biological diversity, a globally significant store of organic carbon, and it is a potent engine driving global cycles of water and energy. The importance of understanding how land surface dynamics of the Amazon region respond to climatic variability and change is widely appreciated, but despite significant recent advances, large gaps in our understanding remain. Understanding of energy and carbon exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere can …

Palaeoecological Analysis Of The Decline In Stromatolite Abundance During The Ordovician Period, Noran Mhm El-Sherif

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A stromatolite is a laminated benthic microbial deposit. Its uniqueness arises from being present since the Precambrian to the present. Stromatolites recorded a peak time during the Mesoproterozoic, subsequently they witnessed abrupt rises and falls in abundance with the steepest decline in the Ordovician period, from which it never recovered from. There is no consensus yet regarding the reasons behind the decline of stromatolites. Thus the decline of these microbial deposits remains an enigma. Additionally, a literature gap exists regarding the reasons that specifically led to the Ordovician decline. Accordingly, the focus of this literature-based MSc. thesis is to find …

The Search For Externally Sourced Knowledge: Clusters And Alliances, Stephen Tallman

Management Faculty Publications

External sources of knowledge have become more important to firms as they have dispersed their value-adding operations around the globe and outsourced them to alliances. The global network firm has access to a rich store of external knowledge – but what do we know about accessing this treasure trove? The purpose of this paper is to summarize key ideas behind the research on alliance networks with clusters to better understand when, how, and why firms would use one or the other, or both, approaches to accessing external sources of knowledge, and to suggest new directions for both practice and scholarship.

Border Wars & The New Texas Navy: International Treaties, Waterways, And State Sovereignty After Arizona V. United States., Bill Piatt, Rachel Ambler

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Compatibility Of Democracy And Islam Or The Lack Thereof: A Closer Look At Whether The Arab Spring Was Ever Capable Of Culminating Into A Viable Democracy In The Arab World., Alvaro Hasani

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Grassroots Gay Rights: Legal Advocacy At The Local Level, Lydia E. Lavelle

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Preserving Miami: An Evaluation Of Miami's Transferable Development Rights Program, Alexis Leventhal

University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Promises Made To Be Broken? Standstill Agreements In Change Of Control Transactions, Christina M. Sautter

Journal Articles

Many promises are made in the negotiation of a merger but not all promises are necessarily enforceable or consistent with a board of directors’ fiduciary duties. This article explores the enforceability of one such promise: the buyer’s standstill agreement. When a publicly traded company explores a sale, that company, the target, customarily requires each potential buyer to execute a standstill agreement. A typical standstill prevents potential buyers from publicly making or announcing a bid for the target during the sale process without the target’s prior consent and for a period of approximately twelve to eighteen months from the conclusion of …

Authenticity In Tourism In Small Island Destinations: The Residents’ Perspective, Robertico Croes, Seung Hyun Lee, Eric D. Olson

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study explored the meaning of authenticity in the context of a small island destination from the residents' perspective, departing from the main stream literature which predominantly focuses on the demand side of the equation. Photo-elicitation was used to investigate the conception of authenticity. The finding from the focus group is that the notions of authenticity are unique, vast, and individualistic and that an encompassing definition of authenticity is difficult to concur. While the focus group provided clarity in terms of authenticity being embedded in the cultural lifestyle, an empirical study was conducted to further understand what cultural resources could …

A Content Analysis To Investigate The Evidence Of 21st Century Knowledge And Skills Within Elementary Teacher Education Programs In The United States, Mary Margaret Ruettgers

Dissertations

Are graduates of teacher preparation programs adequately prepared with the skills and knowledge to teach in the 21st century classroom? This study consisted of a quantitative content analysis to investigate the presence of 21st century knowledge and skills within a stratified random sample of teacher preparation programs in the United States as measured by the 21st Century Learning Framework. Based on the current literature, the researcher identified 21st century competencies: global awareness; digital competencies; critical thinking; collaboration; cross-cultural; communication; and problem solving. For null hypothesis numbers two through eight, the researcher determined how closely the institution’s mission statements, course descriptions, …

Resource Control And Political Development In Africa: The Cases Of The Democratic Republic Of The Congo And The Republic Of Botswana, Oweka Ime

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Ironically, it appears that the countries with the greatest resource wealth have often had the hardest time achieving political and economic stability. Is there a direct correlation between the way in which natural resources are controlled within a country and its democratic process? How do other factors come into play, such as MNC involvement or the level of natural resource revenue dependency? This study compares and contrasts two resource-rich countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Botswana between 1885 and 2012. To address the problem under investigation, three hypotheses have been formulated: 1) the higher the …

Faculty Masthead, Mjlst Editorial Board

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Inheritance Of Cry1f Resistance, Crossresistance And Frequency Of Resistant Alleles In Spodoptera Frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), A. M. Vélez, T. A. Spencer, A. P. Alves, D. Moellenbeck, R. L. Meagher, H. Chirakkal, B. D. Siegfried

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Transgenic maize, Zea maize L., expressing the Cry1F protein from Bacillus thuringiensis has been registered for Spodoptera frugiperda ( J. E. Smith) control since 2003. Unexpected damage to Cry1F maize was reported in 2006 in Puerto Rico and Cry1F resistance in S. frugiperda was documented. The inheritance of Cry1F resistance was characterized in a S. frugiperda resistant strain originating from Puerto Rico, which displayed >289-fold resistance to purified Cry1F. Concentration–response bioassays of reciprocal crosses of resistant and susceptible parental populations indicated that resistance is recessive and autosomal. Bioassays of the backcross of the F1 generation crossed with the resistant parental …

Genetic Diversity And Relatedness Of The Mangrove Rhizophora Mangle L. (Rhizophoraceae) Using Amplified Fragment Polymorphism (Aflp) Among Locations In Florida, Usa And The Caribbean, M. Albrecht, K. M. Kneeland, E. Lindroth, John E. Foster

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Rhizophora mangle L. is a widespread mangrove species in theWestern Hemisphere. Mangrove habitat loss and their importance to coastal and reef ecosystems make greater understanding of their genetic structure useful for conservation and management. An amplified fragment polymorphism (AFLP) analysis was performed on samples from Florida and the Caribbean to discover the genetic structure present. R. mangle had variable genetic diversity not related to latitude; P ranged 7 %–92 %. Some other factor, perhaps human impact, has caused low genetic diversity in some populations. Across Florida R. mangle populations varied in genetic diversity with less diversity (G_st=0.195) and …

Bacillus Thuringiensis: Transgenic Crops, Julie A. Peterson, John J. Obrycki, James D. Harwood

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops, genetically modified to express insecticidal toxins that target key pests of corn, cotton, rice, potato, and other crops, have been rapidly adopted and have become dominant fixtures in agroecosystems throughout the world. Due to the constitutive nature of Bt toxin expression, insecticidal proteins may be found in nearly all plant tissues, presenting multiple sources for Bt toxins to enter the environment, thus creating complex direct and indirect pathways for non-target organisms to be exposed to insecticidal proteins. The environmental impacts of Bt crops have been widely debated, although both benefits and risks do exist. Benefits of …

The Relative Influences Of Climate And Catchment Processes On Holocene Lake Development In Glaciated Regions, Sherilyn C. Fritz, N. J. Anderson

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Following deglaciation, the long-term pattern of change in diatom communities and the inferred history of the aquatic environment are affected by a hierarchy of environmental controls. These include direct climate impacts on a lake’s thermal and hydrologic budgets, aswell as the indirect affects of climate on catchment processes, such as weathering, soil development, microbial activity, fire, and vegetation composition and productivity,which affect the transfer of solutes and particulates from the terrestrial ecosystem into the lake. Some of these catchment influences on lacustrine systems operate as time-dependent patterns of primary succession that are set in motion by glacier retreat. This paper …

Multidisciplinary Approach To Epizootiology And Pathogenesis Of Bat Rabies Viruses In The United States, J. A. Ellison, S. R. Johnson, N. Kuzmina, A. T. Gilbert, W. C. Carson, Kurt C. Vercauteren, C. E. Rupprecht

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Zoonotic disease surveillance is typically initiated after an animal pathogen has caused disease in humans. Early detection of potentially high-risk pathogens within animal hosts may facilitate medical interventions to cope with an emerging disease. To effectively spillover to a novel host, a pathogen may undergo genetic changes resulting in varying transmission potential in the new host and potentially to humans. Rabies virus (RABV) is one model pathogen to consider for studying the dynamics of emerging infectious diseases under both laboratory and field conditions. The evolutionary history of RABV is characterized by regularly documented spillover infections and a series of notable …

Avhrr-Ndvi-Based Crop Coefficients For Analyzing Long-Term Trends In Evapotranspiration In Relation To Changing Climate In The U.S. High Plains, Denis Mutiibwa, Suat Irmak

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Studies in regions of extensive irrigation practices have revealed a significant influence of evaporative cooling on regional temperatures as a result of surface energy redistribution during evaporation. In the U.S. High Plains, maximum temperatures during the last quarter of the 20th century have been decreasing. We investigated the trends in evapotranspiration (ET or latent heat) fluxes originating from increasing irrigation practices in the High Plains region from 1981 to 2008. We estimated actual ET (ETc) over the entire High Plains from the spatial crop coefficients (Kc) and spatial reference (potential) ET (ETref). We proposed …

Seroprevalence Of Brucellosis In Livestock Within Three Endemic Regions Of The Country Of Georgia, Eliso Mamisashvili, Ian T. Kracalik, Tinatin Onashvili, Lela Kerdzevadze, Ketevan Goginashvili, Tamar Tigilauri, Marina Donduashvili, Marina Nikolaishvili, Irma Beradze, Marina Zakareishvili, Maka Kokhreidze, Makvala Gelashvili, Nino Vepkhvadze, S. Elizabeth Rácz, Philip H. Elzer, Mikeljon P. Nikolich, Jason K. Blackburn

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Brucellosis is the one of most common livestock zoonoses in Georgia, resulting in significant economic losses. Livestock were sampled in three regions of Georgia (Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Imereti). Districts that historically reported high numbers of brucellosis related morbidity were selected for serological, bacteriological and molecular surveys. Surveying efforts yielded samples from 10,819 large and small ruminants. In total, 735 serological tests were positive on Rose Bengal and 33 bacterial isolates were recovered and identified as Brucella melitensis or Brucella abortus by microbiology and AMOS-PCR. A Bayesian framework was implemented to estimate the true prevalence of the disease given an imperfect …

On The Morphology And Taxonomy Of Griphobilharzia Amoena Platt And Blair, 1991 (Schistosomatoidea), A Dioecious Digenetic Trematode Parasite Of The Freshwater Crocodile, Crocodylus Johnstoni, In Australia [Critical Comment], Thomas R. Platt, Eric P. Hoberg, Leslie A. Chisholm

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Griphobilharzia amoena Platt and Blair, 1991 was originally described was originally described as a dioecious trematode, parasitic in the circulatory system of the Australian freshwater crocodile, Crocodylus johnstoni, with the female completely enclosed in a gynecophoric chamber of the male and the two worms orientated anti-parallel to each other. A recent publication questions the original description, arguing that G. amoena is monoecious and, as a consequence, the species was transferred to Vasotrema Stunkard, 1928 (Spirorchiidae) as Vasotrema amoena n. comb. We provide photomicrographic evidence that the original description of G. amoena is correct and that Griphobilharzia Platt and Blair, …

Biodiversity, Biogeography, And Conservation Of Bats In The Lesser Antilles, Scott C. Pedersen, Hugh H. Genoways, Gary G. Kwiecinski, Peter A. Larsen, Roxanne J. Larsen

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The chiropteran fauna of the Lesser Antilles consists of 27 species. The diversity of this fauna is low when compared with Neotropical faunas of large continental islands or at sites on the adjacent mainland, however, the Lesser Antillean fauna contains 11 species endemic to these islands making it worthy of large-scale conservation efforts. At the southern end of the Lesser Antilles, the biological limit of the Lesser Antillean bat fauna is marked by Koopman’s Line. To the south of this line, the bat faunas of the Grenadines and Grenada are composed of South American and widespread species of bats. The …

Assessment For “Digital First Language” Speakers: Online Video Assessment And Feedback In Higher Education, Will Turner, John West

Research outputs 2013

While feedback has been highlighted as the most powerful influence on student achievement, Weaver (2006) noted that up to 40% of tertiary students lack confidence in their feedback and many students express dissatisfaction with this aspect of their student experience (Rodway-Dyer, Dunne, & Newcombe, 2009). Chasms remain between academic feedback and student feed forward outputs, as research suggests that feedback is undervalued by “unresponsive” tertiary students due to misunderstanding, inconsistencies and lack of clarity, and that feedback is not as effective as staff imagine. This paper explores student and staff perceptions of a video feedback model for tertiary institutions. Each …

The Mid-Domain Effect: It’S Not Just About Space, Andrew D. Letten, S. Kathleen Lyons, Angela T. Moles

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Ecologists and biogeographers have long sought to understand how and why diversity varies across space. Up until the late 20th century, the dominant role of environmental gradients and historical processes in driving geographical species richness patterns went largely undisputed. However, almost 20 years ago, Colwell & Hurtt (1994) proposed a radical reappraisal of ecological gradient theory that called into question decades of empirical and theoretical research. That controversial idea was later termed the ‘the mid-domain effect’: the simple proposition that in the absence of environmental gradients, the random placement of species ranges within a bounded domain will give rise to …