Digital Commons Network^™

The Second Amendment’S Fixed Meaning And Multiple Purposes, Thiago Luiz Blundi Sturzenegger

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Being faithful to the Constitution’s textual meaning may provide the interpreter with the ability to perceive the adaptability of a constitutional provision to different social and political contexts.  The text of the Constitution refers to principles of law, principles that are indispensable in different ways throughout time.  Textualism as a constitutional interpretation model may offer the path to a more versatile Constitution.

To support this statement, this Article examines the cases in which the Supreme Court interpreted the Second Amendment to the Constitution.  The focal point is the use of history and historic research in constitutional adjudication.  The main argument …

The Seedy Underbelly Of Joinder And Reverse Class Actions: The Porn Industry’S Crusade Against Digital Piracy And Its Interplay With Rule 11 Sanctions, Eric D. Block

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Since the fall of Napster, litigation involving the illegal downloading of copyrighted materials has become common.  More recently, the adult film industry has joined the fight against illegal downloads.  Unlike the music and film industries that came before it, the adult film industry’s pursuit of litigation presents a number of difficult problems that involve the balancing of the industry’s interest in protecting their copyrighted materials with the possibility of innocent defendants being shamed into settlements due to the embarrassing nature of the suits. This Comment looks to strike this balance through the use of Rule 11 sanctions as a catalyst …

God Save The United States And This Honorable Court: Navigating Through The Marsh After Joyner V. Forsyth County, North Carolina, 653 F.3d 341 (4th Cir. 2011), Brian D. Lee

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

In Marsh v. Chambers, the Supreme Court held that legislative prayer was not unconstitutional per se, due mostly to the fact that prayer during legislative sessions was commonplace when the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution was adopted and ratified.  However, the Marsh Court realized that not all forms of legislative prayer were constitutional and held that such prayers violated the Establishment Clause if they advanced, disparaged, or proselytized a particular religion. Although the prayers at issue in Marsh did not contain sectarian references—references to tenets of a particular religion—the Court did not rely solely on that fact …

Laminar Flow Hood System Design, Sophie Schneider

Electrical Engineering

In 2011 health care costs for transplants were over 12 billion dollars in the United States for evaluation, procurement, facilities use, physicians, and post-transplant check-ups. In 2012 burns hospitalized 40,000 people and over 17,000 people received organ transplants. Sadly, the number of organ donors greatly lags the number of people on the transplant waiting list and the gap has widened over the decades. While preventative health care is extremely important, researching tissue engineering (TE) to treat patients in fatal condition provides alternatives for replacing or repairing a variety of damaged tissue. These alternative treatments can considerably reduce the supply-demand gap …

Portable Nano-Hydro Power Generator For The Dc House Project, Andrew Aw, James Biggs

Electrical Engineering

This senior project report explains the construction and design of a small, portable water generator that converts kinetic energy flowing in small creeks to electrical energy as a renewable source of energy for the DC House. The DC House, in short, is a project to build a self-sustainable house for Third World countries that utilizes only DC electricity. The system consists of two converters and a charge controller for a 12V lead-acid battery. The first converter converts the hydro generator voltage output to 15 Volts for safe and proper charging of the lead-acid battery by the charge controller. The second …

Exploring The Changing Effects Of Individual Differences On Social Status Of Influence, Wonho Jeung

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Social status and hierarchies of social status are ubiquitous. Because of this, they have been addressed in a great number of philosophical, theoretical, and empirical discussions across a variety of fields of studies. A primary focus of attention has been on the role of human agency, most notably trait theory (i.e., personality theory). Despite a number of studies in this topic, there have been two notable limitations in extant studies. First, previous studies have largely been based on a singular perspective in explaining social status, most representatively ability (e.g., intelligence) and personality traits (e.g., Big-Five personality traits). Second, extant studies …

Eagle-Eye: A Near-Optimal Statistical Framework For Noise Sensor Placement, Tao Wang, Chun Zhang, Jinjun Xiong, Yiyu Shi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The relentless technology scaling has led to significantly reduced noise margin and complicated functionalities. As such, design time techniques per se are less likely to ensure power integrity, resulting in runtime voltage emergencies. To alleviate the issue, recently several works have shed light on the possibilities of dynamic noise management systems. Most of these works rely on on-chip noise sensors to accurately capture voltage emergencies. However, they all assume, either implicitly or explicitly, that the placement of the sensors is given. It remains an open problem in the literature how to optimally place a given number of noise sensors for …

Study Of Cross Polarization Of Tapered Slot Antenna For Emc Measurements, Fenghan Lin, Jun Fan, Yihong Qi, Yongchang Jiao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Development of wireless technologies pushes for more accurate and more consistent EMC measurements. Antenna cross polarization is found to be a main contributor to the measurement errors. In this paper, full-wave analysis of E-field distribution of various slot lines is presented, which reveals that the bilateral tapered slot antenna has the widest impedance bandwidth and the lowest cross-polarization level simultaneously. The conclusions obtained in this paper will be used to develop an innovative wideband (from 700 MHz to 20 GHz) bilateral tapered slot antenna used for wireless EMC testing. © 2013 IEEE.

A New Coulomb Gauge Based Electric Field Integral Equation Method, Xiaoyan Y.Z. Xiong, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Wei E.I. Sha, Yat Hei Lo

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The electric field integral equation (EFIE) method is one of the most commonly-adopted computational electromagnetic methods. Its popularity stems from the efficient surface triangulation, excellent numerical precision, and the powerful capability of handling open and complex geometries. However, when the frequency tends to zero, the method-of-moment (MoM) solution of EFIE using the Rao-Wilton-Glisson (RWG) basis functions suffers from the low-frequency breakdown, where the contribution from the vector potential is extremely imbalanced with that from the scalar potential. As a result, the matrix representation of EFIE operator is highly ill-conditioned and cannot be inverted reliably and efficiently. © 2013 IEEE.

One Dimensional Multiple Periodic Composite Right/Left Handed (Crlh) Structures, Zi Long Ma, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Shulabh Gupta, Wei E.I. Sha

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The wave-propagation characteristics in a one-dimensional multiple-periodic (MP) Composite right/left-handed (CRLH) structures is presented, where it is found that an increase in the number of unit cells in each supercell leads to new passbands and stopbands. To understand this phenomenon, the network parameters are employed for the theoretical analysis. Detailed dispersion characteristics and the relation between passbands and sub-periodicities are investigated using both analytical and full-wave results, and the reasons for their emergence is qualitatively discussed. Besides, its application to multi-band leaky-wave radiators is also suggested. © 2013 IEEE.

Racial Differences In Self-Efficacy Expectations For Exercise, Selena P. Smith

Honors Theses

This project examined the link between race and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy pertains to an individual’s confidence in ability to complete or engage in a particular task or activity (Bandura, 1986). Prior research shows that self-efficacy has a great influence on exercise initiation and adherence (Bandura, 1986; Dishman, 1982; Rodgers and Sullivan, 2001). Research also supports that Caucasians are more likely to participate in exercise than African Americans (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000).

Participants included 51 females, 31 Caucasians and 20 African Americans, between the ages of 18 and 50 years old. The women were recruited from local fitness gyms, …

Technology Expectations Of Cpa Firms: Hiring And The Accounting Curriculum, Kristy N. Wilson

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the technology expectations of Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firms and to evaluate whether or not accounting curriculums adequately prepare students to meet the firms’ hiring expectations. A total of 28 participants - 19 sole practitioners and 9 CPA firms - completed an online survey designed to determine the technological skills CPA firms require of new hires, the extent to which recent new hires have met the firms’ expectations, and the accounting software and programs that firms typically use. The researcher also analyzed the accounting curriculums of 22 four-year public universities to gather …

A Comparison Of Prostatic Acid Phosphatase With Testosterone And Prostate Specific Antigen For The Serodiagnosis Of Prostate Cancer In Adult Males, Hannah R. Rice

Honors Theses

Cancer is a hyperplastic cellular malignancy that affected 1,436,000 people (newly diagnosed cases) in the United States last year. The top three most frequent forms of cancer were lung, prostate, and breast. Oncogenesis is associated with both genetic predisposition and environmental onslaught, with a mixture of the two being required for the malignancy to progress. Tumor markers, circulating serum factors, are used in the diagnosis of cancer. Prostate cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of this malignancy, affecting 230,110 men in 2004 alone. Diagnosis of prostate cancer is currently performed using results of an assay for prostate specific …

An Analysis Of Peer-To-Peer Distributed Hash Algorithms In Improving Fault Tolerance In The Hadoop Running Environment, Benjamin R. Knaus

Honors Theses

Cloud computing is a “new frontier” in the world of computing. One of the cloud architectures widely used is the Hadoop running environment. Hadoop consists of many parts—including MapReduce, TaskTrackers, and JobTrackers. Right now, there is no fault-tolerance for JobTrackers in Hadoop. This paper analyzes four different distributed hash algorithms (Pastry, Tapestry, CAN, and Chord) that could be implemented inside Hadoop to improve JobTracker fault-tolerance. We recommend Chord as the best suited for integration and improvement of Hadoop.

Many Roads To Social Satisfaction? Social Anxiety, Social Interaction Format, And Social Belonging, Mohamed Mi Ismail

Honors Theses

This study explored how different social interaction formats (face-to-face versus virtual) influence individuals’ belongingness need satisfaction and interaction enjoyment. Furthermore, it also explored how personality variables related to social anxiety (i.e., Interaction Anxiousness, Fear of Negative Evaluation) interact with social interaction format to influence belongingness needs satisfaction and enjoyment. Participants engaged in a conventional face-to-face interaction or a virtual interaction (via Instant Messenger) with a same-sex confederate on a between-subjects basis. Participants then indicated the extent to which the interaction satisfied fundamental social needs (e.g., self-esteem, belonging), their positive and negative mood, as well as how much they enjoyed the …

Damage Control: How Scrutinized Professional Athletes Use Twitter To Combat Negative Press, Jeffrey K. Haeger

Honors Theses

In recent years many elite professional athletes have been criticized in the media for questionable on and off the field behavior. How these athletes use social media to reframe or repair their public images was the focus of this research. Research on social media has grown in recent years, but still remains relatively shallow, making the strong correlation between social media and sport the ideal breeding ground for this exploratory research. This study confined social media use to the way in which two purposefully selected professional athletes - Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong - use Twitter to self-present and directly …

The Separate And Combined Effects Of Heredity And Environment Predicting Alcohol Use Disorder Symptoms And Antisocial Personality Disorder Symptoms, Jaylee R. Gill

Honors Theses

The current study examined genetic and environmental influences in relation to alcohol use pathology. The 756 participants (378 adoptive, 378 non-adoptive) came from the 2001-2002 NESARC conducted by the NIAAA. A factorial ANOVA was used to measure the effects that the three grouping variables had on each dependent variable for a total of seven datasets. Results showed that biological parents’ drinking did pose a risk in participants for Loss of Control (p = .000) and Dangerous Behavior (p = .00). Adoption status was correlated with Conduct Disorder (p = .007) and Antisocial Personality Disorder (p = .014). This suggests that …

Like A Boss: Presidential Prerogative As A Means For National Security, Joshua E. Darichuk

Honors Theses

Executive power in America is outlined by the U.S. Constitution, but presidents have made decisions which questionably violate the rights American citizens are guaranteed by the same document. How are we able to maintain sovereignty as “we the people,” if our most powerful elected official is able to overstep the rules during a national security threat? The answer is because the constitution would not exist without a state, therefore the union must always be preserved. Niccolo Machiavelli, John Locke, Alexander Hamilton, and Carl Schmitt share very different views on democracy, but their insistence on national security is universally present. The …

After The Split: An Analysis Of Sino-Soviet Military Poster Propaganda, Hannah C. Berman

Honors Theses

My research argues that commonalities in Soviet and Chinese military posters show that these communist superpowers shared deeply embedded cultural connections that persisted even after the Sino-Soviet Split, an acrimonious diplomatic breakdown between these states that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. I argue against other historians' interpretations of the Sino-Soviet Split period by comparing Soviet and Chinese Communist military poster propaganda within a historical context that explains their complicated and unexpected political and cultural interrelationship. I argue that the Soviet Union and Communist China, on a cultural level, continued their close interaction under the divisive rhetorical surface of the …

Differentiating Instruction For Gifted Learners In The Regular Classroom: A Quick-Reference Guide For Teachers, Sarah E. White

Honors Theses

Today’s educators face the daunting challenge of presenting mandated curriculum content to a very diverse set of students. Furthermore, their success as an educator is often determined by the scores their students earn on standardized tests at the year’s end. Focus is therefore shifted to the struggling student population, and meanwhile, the advanced learners may be left to their own devices, at least as far as their education is concerned. While pullout programs are in place in some school districts, students usually spend the majority of their time in the regular education classroom, where their needs must be adequately met. …

The Effect Of Product Density On Perceived Price And Quality, Joshua Jc Holston

Honors Theses

This study explores whether product density affects crowding, perceived quality, and perceived price of products within the retail space. The goal is to determine whether product density directly affects customers’ perceptions of price and quality of merchandise within retail spaces. It tests the hypotheses that increased product density will lead to an increase in crowding perceptions but a decrease in perceived price and quality. The study uses photographs of retail spaces with differing densities to manipulate product density and an online questionnaire to gather data. A student sample is used to collect the data. ANOVAs are used to determine the …

Analysis Of Energy Flow In Us Globec Ecosystems Using End-To-End Models, J. J. Ruzicka, J. H. Steele, S. K. Gaichas, T. Ballerini, D. J. Gifford, R. D. Brodeur, E. E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

End-to-end models were constructed to examine and compare the trophic structure and energy flow in coastal shelf ecosystems of four US Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics (GLOBEC) study regions: the Northern California Current, the Central Gulf of Alaska, Georges Bank, and the Southwestern Antarctic Peninsula. High-quality data collected on system components and processes over the life of the program were used as input to the models. Although the US GLOBEC program was species-centric, focused on the study of a selected set of target species of ecological or economic importance, we took a broader community-level approach to describe end-to-end energy flow, from …

Looking Forward Transdisciplinary Modeling, Environmental Forecasting, And Management, D. B. Haidvogel, E. Turner, E. N. Curchitser, E. E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

No abstract provided.

Contextual Expectations Of Privacy, Andrew D. Selbst

Cardozo Law Review

Fourth Amendment search jurisprudence is nominally based on a "reasonable expectation of privacy," but actual doctrine is disconnected from society's conception of privacy. Courts rely on various binary distinctions: Is a piece of information secret or not? Was the observed conduct inside or outside? While often convenient, none of these binary distinctions can adequately capture the complicated range of ideas encompassed by "privacy." Privacy theorists have begun to understand that a consideration of social context is essential to a full understanding of privacy. Helen Nissenbaum's theory of contextual integrity, which characterizes a right to privacy as the preservation of expected …

Scrap Dissolution In Molten Iron Containing Carbon For The Case Of Coupled Heat And Mass Transfer Control, Ajay Kumar Shukla, Brahma Deo, D. G.C. Robertson

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The scrap dissolution in an actual process like the BOF is affected both by mass transfer and heat transfer. In this paper, the mass transfer of carbon in liquid melt is considered along with heat transfer. The approaches used in this paper to model the scrap dissolution phenomenon include the application of Green's function, quasi-static, integral profile, and the finite difference approach for different Biot numbers. Mass transfer coefficients are calculated using the Chilton-Colburn's analogy for the case of forced convection. Since the quasi-static approach requires the least computational time, it is used for a detailed parametric study, including the …

Role Of Air Gap In Scrap Dissolution Process, Ajay Kumar Shukla, Brahma Deo, D. G.C. Robertson

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The role of the air gap formed between scrap and a solidified metal shell at the beginning of the scrap dissolution process has been investigated. The effect of air gap has been investigated for different Biot numbers (10 to 100) and ratios of air gap to liquid melt heat transfer coefficient (0.1 to 0.9). The predictions of the mathematical model are compared with the experimental results reported elsewhere. The role of air gap is found to be significant only for low Biot numbers (< 50) and for low ratios of air gap to liquid melt heat transfer coefficient (< 0.25). © 2013 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International.

Inkjet Printing Of Titanium Dioxide Photoanodes For Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, Jeffrey Corbet Johnson

Masters Theses

Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) offer advantages over semiconductor solar cells including lower costs and relaxed material purity requirements. However, DSSC solar energy conversion efficiencies are lower than many competing photovoltaic technologies. Key to DSSC performance is the incorporation of nanocrystalline metal oxides to provide a large surface area for photosensitive dye loading. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the predominately used metal oxide. The structure of the TiO₂ layer determines charge transfer efficiency and the level of generated photocurrent. Common practice for high performance cells is to deposit a thin, compact TiO₂ coating followed by a thicker, more porous …

Stimulant Use, Associated Psychopathology, And Eating Disordered Symptomatology, Tiffany Ann Hopkins

Master's Theses

The current study developed profiles of eating disorder, personality, and other psychopathological symptoms related to the use of central nervous system stimulants versus other types of drug use. Participants included 124 women in residential treatment for substance use with and without comorbid eating disorders. Symptomatology was measured by the Eating Disorders lnventory-3 (EDI-3), Millon Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III), and Personality Assessment Inventory (PAl). The current study utilized a series of six multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) and discriminant analyses to determine patterns of psychopathology separating stimulant use from other drug use. Results indicated that women who used stimulants were primarily separated …

Environmental Literacy Of Sixth Grade Students In Arkansas: Implications For Environmental Education Reform, Lisa Suzanne Wood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Environmental education must be better integrated into K-12 curriculum to advance environmental literacy. Producing a citizenry that can understand and address the complex environmental issues facing the world today and in the future is essential to sustainable life on this planet.

Using the Middle School Environmental Literacy Survey, 6th grade students across Arkansas were surveyed to obtain a baseline measure of environmental literacy based on the four domains of environmental literacy included in the survey; ecological knowledge, environmental affect, cognitive skills, and behavior. Individual domain scores were combined into a composite environmental literacy score. Results were then compared to the …

Identification Of Biomarkers Associated With Ascites Incidence In Broilers, Kaylee Rowland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poultry is key in genetic research due to breeding feasibility, relatively short generation interval, and distinct phenotypes. It is estimated that 8% of broiler deaths annually can be attributed to ascites, an economically important disease that has been challenging the industry for the past 2 decades. Genetically selected ascites resistant (RES) and susceptible (SUS) chicken lines have been established and maintained by the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Intensive research efforts have been made to reveal physiological and biochemical characteristics for the incidence of ascites. Since the whole genome of the major ancestral chicken, the Red Jungle Fowl, has been sequenced, …