Digital Commons Network^™

A Tale Of Two Dauberts, Julie A. Seaman

Georgia Law Review

Under the Federal Rules of Evidence and Supreme
Court precedent, a single standard ostensibly governs the
admissibility of scientific and other expert evidence in
criminal and civil cases. Although Georgia has recently
become the forty-fourth state to adopt the Federal Rules of
Evidence, it has declined to adopt Daubert for criminal
cases and has retained the prior, more lenient, standard.
While many commentators view this approach as perverse,
this Article considers the possible virtues not only of
explicitly applying a separate rule to scientific evidence in
criminal cases but also of applying a less stringent rule to
such evidence. Based …

Water-Use Strategies Of Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia Japonica), Lisa Nicole Cummins

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Japanese knotweed, Fallopia japónica, is an herbaceous perennial that is invasive on many continents, including North America. Stands of Japanese knotweed are often located in riparian regions, disturbed sites, and along roadways. Recent studies have evaluated the impact of Japanese knotweed on the hydrologic cycle. Japanese knotweed may have the ability to markedly decrease stream discharge, potentially because of its high LAI. In the summer of 2010, a two-part study was conducted to determine the impact of water availability on the physiology and morphology of Japanese knotweed. A greenhouse study of Japanese knotweed measured transpiration and other factors that may …

Paradox In Shakespeare's Tragicomedies : Pericles, Cymberline, The Winter's Tale, And The Tempest, Seamus Gilson

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Paradox in Shakespeare’s four tragicomedies - Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest - is employed to explore the human experience, a journey filled with contradictions that thrive together. Shakespeare’s use of paradox takes on a different dimension in each play and, therefore, this essay will look at the paradox, or paradoxes, specific to individual plays. The value, then, of paradox in Shakespeare’s four tragicomedies is that they forge boundaries and evoke thought.

The essay is divided into the following sections: Introduction; Tragicomedy, discusses the tragicomic form; Paradox, takes a brief look at the subject of paradox; the discussion …

The Liminality Of The Black Female “Freed” Slave In The Novels Of Morrison, Hurston, And Williams, Karen Ingram

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Arnold Van Gennep, a French ethnographer, explored the concept of ceremonies for ritual events in his text, The Rites of Passage. He examined societal processes whereby an individual moves from one socially constructed place to another — for example, a boy to a man with a Bar Mitzvah, or a girl to woman on her wedding night. This “passage” involves three phases: separation, transition, and reincorporation. Victor Turner, a British cultural anthropologist, takes van Gennep’s theory one step further and discusses the transition phase and how an individual can become stuck in the transitional stage: the liminal space. In his …

Decoration Of Graphene With Metal Nanoparticles And Its Application For Bioanalysis, Keun Soo Kwon

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Graphene is a two-dimensional monolayer of tightly packed sp² hybridized Carbon atoms. Formed from graphite, the theoretical surface area of the monolayer is about 2630 m²/g, and the initial formation of graphene oxide from graphite oxide introduces a variety o f functional groups, such as -COOH, -C=0, and -OH, on its surface. The high surface area and the rich presence of functional groups, along with the potential formation o f sp² bonding networks within graphene oxide, all serve as critical factors allowing for additional chemical modifications. There are extensive research attempts being performed to explore and …

Fecundity Of The Chinese Mystery Snail In A Nebraska Reservoir, Bruce J. Stephen, Craig R. Allen, Noelle M. Chaine, Kent A. Fricke, Danielle M. Haak, Michelle L. Hellman, Robert A. Kill, Kristine T. Nemec, Kevin L. Pope, Nicholas A. Smeenk, Daniel R. Uden, Kody M. Unstad, Ashley E. Vanderham, Alec Wong

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya chinensis) is a non-indigenous, invasive species in freshwater ecosystems of North America. We provide fecundity estimates for a population of these snails in a Nebraska reservoir. We dissected 70 snails, of which 29 were females. Nearly all female snails contained developing young, with an average of 25 young per female. Annual fecundity was estimated at between 27.2 and 33.3 young per female per year. Based on an estimated adult population and the calculated fecundity, the annual production for this reservoir was between 2.2 and 3.7 million young.

Influence Of Richness And Seeding Density On Invasion Resistance In Experimental Tallgrass Prairie Restorations, Kristine T. Nemec, Craig R. Allen, Christopher J. Helzer, David A. Wedin

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

In recent years, agricultural producers and non-governmental organizations and agencies have restored thousands of hectares of cropland to grassland in the Great Plains of the United States. However, little is known about the relationships between richness and seeding density in these restorations and resistance to invasive plant species. We assessed the effects of richness and seeding density on resistance to invasive and other unseeded plant species in experimental tallgrass prairie plots in central Nebraska. In 2006, twenty-four 55 m × 55 m plots were planted with six replicates in each of four treatments: high richness (97 species typically planted by …

Predictors Of Regional Establishment Success And Spread Of Introduced Non-Indigenous Vertebrates, Criag R. Allen, Kristine T. Nemec, Donald A. Wardwell, Justin D. Hoffman, Mathew L. Brust, Karie L. Decker, Daniel Fogell, Jennifer Hogue, Aaron Lotz, Thaddeus Miller, Marcy Pummill, Luis E. Ramirez-Yañez, Daniel R. Uden

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Aim To provide the first analysis of predictors of both establishment and spread, both within and across taxa, for all vertebrate taxa within a region.We used Florida, USA, as our study system because it has a well-documented history of introduction and invasion, and is a hotspot for biological invasions.

Location Florida, USA.

Methods We analysed non-indigenous species (NIS) data from peninsular Florida – which included both successful and unsuccessful introductions from all vertebrate classes – to determine the best predictors of both establishment and spread for fish (65 species), herpetofauna (63 species), birds (71 species) and mammals (25 species). We …

Gilbert Redux: The Interaction Of The Pregnancy Discrimination Act And The Amended Americans With Disabilities Act, Deborah Widiss

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Pregnancy — a health condition that only affects women — raises complicated questions regarding the interaction of employment policies addressing sex discrimination and those addressing disability. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), enacted in 1978, mandates that employers “shall” treat pregnant employees “the same for all employment-related purposes” as other employees “similar in their ability or inability to work.” Despite the clarity of this language, some courts permit employers to treat pregnant employees less favorably than employees with other health conditions, so long as the employer does so pursuant to a “pregnancy-blind” policy such as accommodating only workplace injuries or disabilities …

Critical Race Empiricism: A New Means To Measure Civil Procedure, Victor D. Quintanilla

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article reflects the second phase in a research line examining the effects of highly subjective pleading rules, specifically, Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009), and was an invited contribution to a symposium, which explored the intersection of empirical legal methods and critical race theory. In this phase, I updated the empirical legal analysis in a prior article, Beyond Common Sense: A Social Psychological Study of Iqbal’s Effect on Claims of Race Discrimination, 17 Michigan Journal of Race and Law 1 (2011), in three ways. First, I lengthened the time horizon from 18 months to 24 months, increasing the …

Human Disturbance Of Seagrass Beds In Hoga Island, Indonesia : Impacts On Edge Effects, Anthony John Suleski

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Ecosystems are broad classifications of areas where overlapping communities exist which can contain relatively high faunal and floral diversity. These communities characteristically are often influenced by external forces. Disturbances can create incongruencies in these communities and have been demonstrated to change community dynamics in varying ways. Humans are responsible for many disturbances which alter habitat and community structure and many habitat edges or ecotones are artificially created by these human disturbances. In Wakatobi National Park, Hoga Island, Indonesia, three bays exist and are in close proximity to one another with varying levels of human influence. This study investigated how anthropogenic …

Don’T Turn That Dial : Advertising, Mass Media, And The God Character In The Novels Of Philip K. Dick, Masha Taborisskaya

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

“Don’t Turn That Dial: Advertising, Mass Media, and the God Character in the Novels of Philip K. Dick” seeks to explore the Science Fiction (SF) novels of Philip K. Dick through two themes: the parity of divinity and reality and the use of advertising and mass media as a divine tool. These themes are reflected through Dick’s god character, which appears throughout his works. This parallel of reality with divinity means that any character that claims to be able to generate reality is worshipped as a religious figure. In Dick’s novels from the 1960s, there are false god characters which …

On The Difference In Quality Between Current Heuristic And Optimal Solutions To The Protein Structure Alignment Problem, Mauricio Arriagada, Aleksandar Poleksic

Faculty Work

The importance of pairwise protein structural comparison in biomedical research is fueling the search for algorithms capable of finding more accurate structural match of two input proteins in a timely manner. In recent years, we have witnessed rapid advances in the development of methods for approximate and optimal solutions to the protein structure matching problem. Albeit slow, these methods can be extremely useful in assessing the accuracy of more efficient, heuristic algorithms. We utilize a recently developed approximation algorithm for protein structure matching to demonstrate that a deep search of the protein superposition space leads to increased alignment accuracy with …

Re:Creation, Heather Boone

Theses and Dissertations

This intent of this project is to explore the importance of handmade objects in the age of information.

A Comparison Of Raman, Ftir And Atr-Ftir Micro Spectroscopy For Imaging Human Skin Tissue Sections., Syed Mehmood Ali, Franck Bonnier, Helen Lambkin, Kathleen Flynn, V Mcdonagh, Claragh Healy, T C. Lee, Fiona Lyng, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Raman and Infrared absorption spectroscopies are compared for the analysis of human hand skin tissue sections. The tissue sections have been formalin fixed and paraffin processed, and subsequently dewaxed. Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) spectra are preprocessed using the resonant Mie – extended multiplicative scattering algorithm to remove spectral artefacts. FTIR images of resolution 4cm^-1, analysed using K-means cluster analysis, reveal the double layer structure of the dermis and epidermis, but no further layer differentiation is achieved using the higher spatial resolution of the Attenuated Total Reflection imaging or improved spectral resolution of 2cm^-1. At comparable spectral …

Raman Spectroscopy In Nanomedicine: Current Status And Future Perspectives, Hugh Byrne, Mark Keating

Articles

Raman spectroscopy is a branch of vibration spectroscopy which is capable of probing the chemical composition of materials. Recent advances in Raman microscopy have added significantly to the range of applications which now extend from medical diagnostics to exploring interfaces between biological organisms and nanomaterials. In this review, Raman is introduced in a general context, highlighting some of the areas in which the technique has found success in the past, as well as some of the potential benefits it offers over other analytical modalities. The subset of Raman techniques which specifically probe the nanoscale, namely Surface Enhanced and Tip Enhanced …

Raman Micro Spectroscopy Study Of The Interaction Of Vincristine With A549 Cells Supported By Expression Analysis Of Bcl-2 Protein, Haq Nawaz, Amaya Garcia, Aidan Meade, Fiona Lyng, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Understanding the interaction of anticancer drugs with model cell lines is important to elucidate the mode of action of these drugs as well as to develop cost effective and rapid screening methods. Raman spectroscopy has been demonstrated to be a valuable technique for high throughput, noninvasive analysis. The interaction of vincristine with a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line (A549)was investigated using Raman micro spectroscopy. The results were correlated with parallel measurements from the MTT cytotoxicity assay, which yielded an IC₅₀ value of 0.10 ± 0.03 μM. The Raman spectral data acquired from vincristine treated A549 cells was analysed to …

A New Versatile Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometer For Vibration Measurements, Viswanath Bavigadda

Doctoral

Electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) has been widely used for vibration amplitude and phase measurements. Conventional ESPI systems are bulk and expensive and need careful alignment of all the optical components which is a time consuming task. To overcome these problems alternative compact ESPI systems were developed using fibre-optical components or holographic optical elements (HOEs). The fibre-optic based ESPI systems suffer from random phase fluctuations induced by environmental temperature changes. Hence HOEs can be used as more powerful alternative optical elements to design ESPI systems. The time average ESPI method is widely used for vibration studies. The time average method …

The Effects Of Hydrostatic Pressure On Early Endothelial Tubulogenic Processes, Ryan M. Underwood

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

The effects of mechanical forces on endothelial cell function and behavior are well documented, but have not been fully characterized. Specifically, fluid pressure has been shown to elicit physical and chemical responses known to be involved in the initiation and progression of endothelial cell-mediated vascularization. Central to the process of vascularization is the formation of tube-like structures. This process—tubulogenesis—is essential to both the physiological and pathological growth of tissues. Given the known effects of pressure on endothelial cells and its ubiquitous presence in the vasculature, we investigated pressure as a magnitude-dependent parameter for the regulation of endothelial tubulogenic activity. To …

Role Of Satellite Cells In Long Term Fiber Type Shifts, Honglu Liu

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

Muscle fiber type shifts in respect to satellite cells, muscle stem cells, are not well understood currently. The Peterson Lab has generated a mouse model (PAX7-DTA) that ablates satellite cells to determine if these muscle stem cells contribute to mouse muscle fiber type changes over an eight week period. In the study, control and satellite-cell-ablated mouse groups were split into control and overload groups (via synergist ablation surgery) and placed under similar environmental conditions. Eight weeks post-experiment, muscles were dissected to obtain the plantaris muscles of animals from all groups. Muscle cross-sections obtained were immunohistochemically stained, imaged, quantified by fiber …

Use Of Mtb-100tm, Provided Through A Mineral Mix, To Reduce Toxicity When Lactating Beef Cows Graze Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue, Melanie E. Hoar

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Two experiments were conducted at the University of Kentucky, Eden Shale Farm, Owenton, KY to evaluate the use of MTB-100^TM (Alltech, Inc., Nicholasville, KY) to alleviate the symptoms of fescue toxicity when lactating Angus x Beefmaster cows and their calves grazed endophyte-infected KY-31 tall fescue. Experiment 1 provided a carbohydrate based toxin adsorbent, MTB-100^TM, ad libitum in a commercial mineral supplement to project a daily consumption rate of 0, 20 or 40 g of MTB-100^TM per cow. Cows were weighed, assigned a body condition score (BCS) and hair coat score (HC), rectal temperatures were recorded and …

The Nature And Perceived Influence Of Lifestyle Discussions With Older Adults In Primary Care, Shoshana H. Bardach

Theses and Dissertations--Gerontology

The Nature and Perceived Influence of Lifestyle Discussions with Older Adults in Primary Care Rationale: A healthy diet and physical activity help with disease prevention and disease management and can promote quality of life regardless of the age at which an individual begins engaging in these behaviors. Despite the value of these health behaviors, many older adults do not follow lifestyle recommendations. Given that older adults frequently interact with the healthcare system, primary care providers are well situated to counsel older adults to improve their health behaviors. Unfortunately, we do not know how to most effectively engage in this counseling. …

Deepwater Horizon Dispersant Use: An Analysis Of Coverage By The New York Times, Puneet Sandhu

Theses & ETDs

In 2010, BP's Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to the largest offshore oil spill in the United States. As part of the oil spill response, chemical dispersants were applied in unprecedented volumes, and for the first time, applied subsea. The dispersant applications generated much public debate and media coverage. The present study examines how well a major news outlet, The New York Times (NYT), explained the science of dispersants in covering the Deepwater Horizon response. Overall, the newspaper presented insufficient information about the benefits and risks of dispersant use. Many of the flaws …

"A Stranger Within The Gates": The Construction Of Non-Normative Gender And Sexuality In Three Fin-De-Siecle, Emily Ryan

Theses & ETDs

This thesis examines representations of non-normative gender and sexuality in three fin-de-siecle novels: The Well of Loneliness, Orlando, and Monsieur Venus. The first chapter deals with gender melancholia, gendered belonging, and the problematization of identity categories in The Well of Loneliness. The second chapter looks at performative gender, gendered displays of desire, and the subversiveness of relationships between women in Orlando. The third chapter focuses on the construction of gender roles in Monsieur Venus within a relationship of dominance and submission. Gender means something different to each of the protagonists—in The Well of Loneliness, gender is an elusive identity that …

Theoretical Kinetics Calculations On Reactions In The Interstellar Medium, Benjamin Rooks

Theses & ETDs

Rate constants for four gas-phase reactions related to the formation of complex organic compounds in the interstellar medium were determined theoretically using the POLYRATE kinetics and Gaussian 09 electronic structure modeling programs. Variational transition state theory rate constants with multi-dimensional optimized tunneling corrections were determined at the M05-2X/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory, then compared to rate constants taken from the Kinetic Database for Astrochemistry (KIDA). For two of the reactions, tunneling effects were predicted to produce a sunstantial increase in the rate constant below 300 K. The primary models used in KIDA do not account for the effects of tunneling on …

Overpopulation: Mitigation And Normative Diffusion, Jordan Royal

Theses & ETDs

Human overpopulation is an important issue because it has a myriad of adverse impacts on the environment and our species survival. This thesis introduces the self-reinforcing relationship between population pressures and environmental issues, emphasizing the pertinence of population control. Two distinctive approaches to addressing population pressures are highlighted: top-down coercion and bottom-up empowerment. Through analyzing the diffusion of norms regarding gender equality and women's rights and empowerment at international conferences on population and development, I argue that a shift within the international community's approach to population control has taken place. The international community has shifted from supporting top-down approaches to …

Education By Class: Observations From An Elite School, Diana Watson

Theses & ETDs

In this thesis I examine the curricula and teaching strategies employed by the History and Classics departments in the St. Stephen's Middle and High School Preparatory School in Bradenton, Florida. In-class, I focused on instances where teachers sought to elicit thoughtful class participation and engagement with complex social science topics. The individualistic style of education provides creative avenues of exploration for motivated students while allowing for others to pass with little effort. This method is a marker of upper and middle class education, while it is denied to the lower classes of the U.S.

Science Blogging: Science Journalists Of The Internet, Allison Smith

Theses & ETDs

With traditional science journalism being faded out from newspapers due to economic impacts, science blogging has become a new means for readers to access to easy-to-read science news translated from jargon-filled scholarly articles. Science bloggers can make a profession out of what they do, providing an alternative to science news written by people without any science background. The aim of this study was to determine how readers interact with blogs, what they find important about them, and what their general demographics were. Through the use of an IRB-approved survey, I gathered these data. I found that science blog readers are …

Disparate Times, Disparate Measures: Time Between Arrest, Conviction, And Execution As A Relevant Measure Of Modern Racial Bias, Alex Smith

Theses & ETDs

This study looked at two time frames in the legal process: time between arrest and sentencing (referred to as "sentencing time") and time between sentencing and execution (referred to as "execution time") as variables relevant to racial biases in the courtroom. Using the Texas and Florida Department of Criminal Justice archives, executed offenders with similar case features were analyzed. In both Texas and Florida, political affiliation of the governor and response to capital punishment were related; offenders spent more time on death row when the governors were Republican than when they were Democrats. In Florida, racial minorities spent an average …

Gogol's "Shinel" In English: A Commentary And Translation, Morgan Shafter

Theses & ETDs

The central project of this thesis is to examine the translation of stylistic elements in Nikolai Gogol's story "Shinel" ("The Overcoat"). First, I construct a theoretical foundation which both enables and justifies the representation of style in the target language, by considering translation as artistic interpretation. I then apply this theory to two important stylistic techniques employed by Gogol: skaz and defamiliarization. Next, I compare selected examples from four previous English translations of "Shinel" to explore how other translators have handled these stylistic techniques. Finally, I provide my own translation, which aims to explicate Gogol's style to an English-speaking audience.