Digital Commons Network^™

Fighting For The Right To Be White: A Case Study In White Racial Identity, Dianne Dentice, David Bugg

Journal of Hate Studies

Membership in extremist groups, such as White Revolution and the Ku Klux Klan, embody specific behavioral attributes. These attributes include practicing endogamy and exhibiting racial pride. There is general consensus among members as to what it means to be part of a socially constructed extremist group. There are also strong motivational factors that support maintaining in-group solidarity and dominant status. By adhering to the rules dictated by group membership, both the self and the group are uplifted based on white racial identity. The process of self-categorization for white racial activists accentuates their own physical similarities along with perceived negative physical …

Uniting The Right: Anti-Immigration, Organizing, And The Legitimation Of Extreme Racist Organizations, Stanislav Vysotsky

Journal of Hate Studies

This article analyzes the use of anti-immigration rhetoric and organizing efforts by extreme rightwing racist groups to present themselves as political actors. The authors analyze this process through a case study of the Keystone State Skinheads/Keystone United, a Pennsylvania-based hate group. The authors identify the manner in which this countercultural group uses anti-immigrant rhetoric to frame itself as a political organization. White racist organizations utilize issues such as the opposition to immigration to minimize stigma associated with their beliefs. This strategy has allowed them to participate at the forefront of anti-immigration organizing over the course of the last decade. By …

Misogyny And Marginalization In Criminal Justice Systems: Women’S Experiences In Two Post-Conflict Societies, Erin Tunney

Journal of Hate Studies

In Northern Ireland and South Africa, two countries that are attempting to rebuild their societies after extended periods of armed conflict, women who seek redress from gender-based violence through the criminal justice system encounter barriers to justice. Such barriers emerge from misogynistic attitudes toward women that prevent police from appropriately responding to reports of sexual and domestic violence, diminish the capacity of police and court officials to empathize with rather than blame victims, and impede judges from sentencing convicted perpetrators in proportion to their crimes. Despite the striking differences between these two countries, in each society women face similar patterns …

Book Review: Fact And Fiction: The Hanging Judge By Michael Ponsor, Tigran W. Eldred

Faculty Scholarship

This essay reviews the debut novel by senior federal judge Michael Ponsor, a tale of the first death penalty case to occur in Massachusetts in more than 50 years.

Clinical Trial Transparency - Antidote To Increased Off-Label Promotion?, Kevin Outterson

Faculty Scholarship

Abstract

Clinical trial transparency will improve the accuracy and reliability of biomedical science, while also reducing the burdens on both trial participants and sponsors.

Regulating Disruptive Innovation, Nathan Cortez

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Disruption theory tells us that certain innovations can undermine existing products, firms, or even entire industries. Classic examples include the Kodak camera, the Bell telephone, and the Ford Model T. Modern examples abound. The market entrant’s innovation ultimately displaces industry incumbents. Regulators, too, are challenged by such disruptive innovations. The new product, technology, or business practice may fall within an agency’s jurisdiction but not square well with the agency’s existing regulatory framework. Call this “regulatory disruption.”

Most scholars intuit that regulators should be cautious rather than firm in such situations. Tim Wu, in Agency Threats, argues that agencies confronting disruptive …

An 'I Do' I Choose: How The Fight For Marriage Access Supports A Per Se Finding Of Persecution For Asylum Cases Based On Forced Marriage, Natalie Nanasi

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

There is something special about marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court, in striking down anti-miscegenation laws, restrictions on the right to marry for disadvantaged groups, and most recently, the Defense of Marriage Act, has long recognized the marital union to be "sacred" and "fundamental to…existence." Yet this analysis is dramatically different when courts consider asylum law, where a woman who is seeking refuge in the United States to protect her from a forced marriage abroad will likely be denied protection because the harm she fears is not considered to be a "persecutory" act. She may therefore be forced to spend a …

A Game Changer For The Political Economy Of Economic Development Incentives, Stephen E. Ellis, Grant M. Hayden, Cynthia L. Rogers

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

State and local governments have embraced their authority to offer economic development incentives for the purpose of attracting, retaining, or enhancing economic activity within their borders. Collectively, these programs represent an enormous, but largely overlooked, transfer of wealth from public entities to private firms. The increasing use of economic development incentives runs counter to the guidance offered by academic researchers. With their proliferation comes the increasing need for accountability in the decision-making process. The authors consider whether the duty of care standard used in corporate governance should be applied to the public decision-making context regarding economic development incentives.

Human Rights And African Migration, Chima J. Korieh

History Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Ceramic Coaxial Cable Sensors For Long-Term In-Situ Monitoring Of Geologic Co₂ Injection And Storage, Yurong Li

Masters Theses

"Monitoring is an essential component of CO₂ injection and storage projects in order to manage the injection process, identify leakage risks, provide early failure warnings, determine the movement of CO₂ plume and provide input into reservoir models. In-situ monitoring provides critical and direct data points that can be used to fulfill the above objectives. However, downhole sensors that can withstand the harsh conditions and run over decades of the project life cycle remain unavailable. A new idea of ceramic coaxial cable temperature, pressure and strain sensor has recently been put forward and the sensors are under development.

A high pressure …

Application Of Electrically Invisible Antennas To The Modulated Scatterer Technique, Dylan Andrew Crocker

Masters Theses

"The Modulated Scatterer Technique (MST) has shown promise for applications in microwave imaging, electric field mapping, and materials characterization. Traditionally, MST scatterers consist of dipole antennas centrally loaded with a lumped element capable of modulation (commonly a PIN diode). By modulating the load element, the signal scattered from the MST scatterer is also modulated. However, due to the small size of such scatterers, it can be difficult to reliably detect the modulated signal. Increasing the modulation depth (a parameter related to how well the scatterer modulates the scattered signal) may improve the detectability of the scattered signal. In an effort …

Comparison Of Core Control And Geophysical Investigations, Silica Sand Deposits, Dawmat Al Jandal, Al Jawf At Saudi Arabia, Ghassan Salem Alsulaimani

Masters Theses

"This thesis is a summary of a comprehensive geophysical investigation in southern Dawmat Al Jandal, Al Jawf in Saudi Arabia. This research demonstrates that the acquisition of both core control and geophysical data is superior to the acquisition of core control alone. Coring is expensive and is limited in subsurface coverage. Geophysical surveying, however, is a relatively rapid and cost-effective means of deriving information about the subsurface between core holes. Ground penetrating radar (GPR), Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW), and Seismic Refraction methods were used as exploration techniques to locate surficial mineral deposits within the study area.

During the …

Theoretical Analysis Of Shape Separation Of Particles Using Flow Field-Flow Fractionation, Mehrdad Alfi

Masters Theses

"Size separation of spherical and rod-like particles in Flow Field-flow Fractionation was investigated theoretically. The effect of cross flow migration and rod orientation was also investigated as a new mode of study. It has been shown that the rod local orientation makes different diffusivity values in comparison with spherical particles and helps particle separation. Additionally, a new mechanism of lift-hypelayer mode was used for rod-like particles which can be compared with steric mode of spherical particles. This mechanism is said to be due to hydrodynamic interaction of rod-like particle with wall and with other rods.

As a measure of axial …

An Analytical Pressure Model To Guide Downhole Sensor Placement For Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Monitoring, Yilin Mao

Masters Theses

"Injecting CO₂ into saline aquifers is currently the most viable approach to mitigate global greenhouse gas effect. Various monitoring techniques are required to achieve 99% accuracy in determining the location of the injected CO₂ plume. Sensor locations are critical to the monitoring quality necessary to meet this requirement but have scarcely been discussed. The pressure profile needs to be modeled accurately at the initial stage of CO₂ injection to guide sensor locations. The objective of this thesis was to develop an analytical solution for CO₂ sequestration based on time and distance. This will guide the locations of downhole pressure sensors …

Thermal Properties Of Zirconium Diboride - Transition Metal Boride Solid Solutions, Devon Lee Mcclane

Masters Theses

"This research focuses on the thermal properties of zirconium diboride (ZrB₂) based ceramics. The overall goal was to improve the understanding of how different transition metal (TM) additives influence thermal transport in ZrB₂. To achieve this, ZrB₂ with 0.5 wt% carbon, and 3 mol% of individual transition metal borides, was densified by hot-press sintering. The transition metals that were investigated were: Y, Ti, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, and Re. The room temperature thermal diffusivities of the compositions ranged from 0.331 cm²/s for nominally pure ZrB₂ to 0.105 cm²/s for (Zr,Cr)B₂ and converged around 0.155cm²/s at higher temperatures …

Techno-Economic And Life-Cycle Modeling And Analysis Of Various Energy Storage Technologies Coupled With A Solar Photovoltaic Array, Brian Andrew Peterson

Masters Theses

"Renewable energies, such as wind and solar, are a growing piece of global energy consumption. The chief motivation to develop renewable energy is two-fold: reducing carbon dioxide emissions and reducing dependence on diminishing fossil fuel supplies. Energy storage is critical to the growth of renewable energy because it allows for renewably-generated electricity to be consumed at times when renewable sources are unavailable, and it also enhances power quality (maintaining voltage and frequency) on an electric grid which becomes increasingly unstable as more renewable energy is added. There are numerous means of storing energy with different advantages, but none has emerged …

An Empirical Study On Symptoms Of Heavier Internet Usage Among Young Adults, Saipreethi Vishwanathan

Masters Theses

"Understanding negative consequences of heavy Internet use on mental health is a topic that is gaining significant traction recently. A number of studies have investigated heavy Internet usage, especially among young adults in relation to online games, social media and email. While such studies do provide valuable insights, Internet usage so far has been characterized by means of self-reported surveys only that may suffer from errors and biases. In this paper, we report the findings of a two month empirical study on heavy Internet usage among students conducted at a college campus. The novelty of the study is that it …

Analysis Of A Ventilation Network In A Multiple Fans Limestone Mine, Ali Haghighat

Masters Theses

"As mining progresses the total resistance of an excavation is increased, the mine characteristic curve becomes steeper, and the operating point moves up the fan curve, reducing the total air quantity and increasing the system pressure. For multi-level ventilation networks with a number of fans the process can be tedious, and on a count of numerous dependent factors the optimal combination of fans is very hard to be achieved. The design of a ventilation network in conjunction with multi surface fans and booster fans entails a complex procedure.

The objective of this study is to provide a plan to improve …

Dephosphorylation Of Iqg1 By Cdc14 Temporally Regulates Actin Ring Formation, Daniel Patrick Miller

Masters Theses

"Cytokinesis is the final step in cell division when the cell separates the cytoplasm by contracting a ring composed of filamentous actin (F-actin) and type II myosin. Iqg1, an IQGAP family member, is an essential scaffolding protein in budding yeast (S. cerevisiae) required for actin recruitment to, and contraction of, the actomyosin ring. Actin is recruited by the calponin homology domain (CHD) in anaphase after Iqg1 is localized to the bud neck. Consensus sites for the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) Cdc28 were identified flanking the CHD. This led us to the hypothesis that phosphorylation of Iqg1 by Cdc28 negatively regulates actin …

Effect And Interactions Of Commercial Additives And Chloride Ion In Copper Electrowinning, Wenyuan Cui

Masters Theses

"This thesis is to understand and compare the effects and interactions of modified polysaccharide (HydroStar), polyacrylamide (Cyquest N-900) and chloride ion on copper electrowinning. A study of the nucleation and growth was conducted in a synthetic electrolyte (40 g/L Cu, 160 g/L H₂SO₄, 20 mg/L Cl-) with the addition of HydroStar or Cyquest N-900 using potential step measurements. The current responses generated were compared to theoretical models of nucleation and growth mechanisms. The nucleation and growth mechanism changed as function of potential and the presence of organic additives. The nucleation and growth mechanisms were confirmed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). …

The Effects Of Advanced Structural Materials To Mitigate Explosive And Impact Threats, Caleb Michael Baumgart

Masters Theses

"In a world of ever newer and modified improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that are very common in certain parts of the world, it is always more important to improve the devices used for protection. This research endeavors to design and analyze a blast barrier using three different media types to mitigate the high pressures from an IED or a car bomb. The three media types used in this research are pumice, steel grit, and foam. Six barriers were built to test the three media types and account for the changes from a standard solid concrete barrier to a barrier with …

Crime Pattern Detection Using Online Social Media, Raja Ashok Bolla

Masters Theses

"In this research, we show online social networks can be used to study crime detection problems. Crime is defined as an act harmful not only to the individual involved, but also to the community as a whole. It is also a forbidden act that is punishable by law. Crimes are social nuisances that place heavy financial burdens on society. Here we look at use of data mining followed by sentiment analysis on online social networks, to help detect the crime patterns. Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables users to post brief text updates, also referred …

Characterization Of 304l Stainless Steel By Means Of Minimum Input Energy On The Selective Laser Melting Platform, Ben Brown

Masters Theses

"Developing parameter sets for new materials on the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) platform has traditionally been done through the use of single line processing windows and a basic design of experiments (DOE) which would include varying machine parameters to maximize density. This study expands the traditional method by determining the main effects statistically for density, allowing for a more in depth analysis wherein the experimental results are statistically correlated to the variable machine parameters used. With this analysis, parameter optimization with respect to achieving near full density, while also considering build rates, can be performed. New parameters for 304L stainless …

Effects Of Grain Properties And Compaction On Single-Tool Normal Indentation Of Granular Materials, Dennis Chieze Duru

Masters Theses

"The behavior of three granular materials; filter sand, crushed garnet, and shale cutting, were investigated in an effort to evaluate the effect of grain size and shape, and material compaction under single tool load-indentation test. Force-penetration data was collected continuously through the end of each test and specific energy and specific penetration was calculated from the data.

Grain size and compaction affected the force penetration behavior. The higher the grain size, the more the fluctuation in the force of penetration. In addition, compaction reduces the force fluctuation in the fine aggregate grains, but increases the magnitude of the force fluctuations …

Development And Characterization Of Spiral Additions In A Ceramic Matrix, Andrea Lynn Els

Masters Theses

"A novel spiral architecture was formed using titanium diboride and silicon carbide ceramics as either the spiral or matrix phase. Particulate composites with the same compositions were fabricated to compare to the materials in this study. Spiral additions were formed using powder loaded polymers followed by a single and/or multi-filament co-extrusion. For 25 vol% SiC spiral additions to TiB₂, boron nitride was added to the SiC spiral to alter the bonding at the interface and reduce thermal residual stresses. All samples were hot-pressed to near full density at 1980 ⁰C. Hot pressed multi-filament co-extrusion of 2.4 mm / …

Gel Treatment Field Application Survey For Water Shut Off In Production Wells, Jingyi Liao

Masters Theses

"Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) screening criteria are considered as a guideline for candidate evaluation and determination. Not many screening criteria for gel treatment had been published. Some published gel treatment application surveys for water shut off only include limited number of oil fields and locations.

The current work aims to summarize the worldwide gel treatment applications for water shut off in production wells by creating and analyzing a dataset from a variety of sources. This study started from collecting and cleaning the gel treatment application data. All the data were from SPE field publications from 1990 to 2012 and from …

Parental Mediation Of Adolescent Movie Viewing, Larry James Webster Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Parental mediation of media use by children has been studied extensively as it applies to television and children 12 years old and younger. This study expands the scope of Parental Mediation Theory by applying it to adolescents (age 13-17 years old) and movie viewing. The results of this study show overall parental mediation of adolescent movie viewing is negatively associated with the age of the child. The results show that among parents who mediate movie viewing, restrictive, instructive and social co-viewing mediation strategies are negatively correlated with the age of the adolescent. Third Person Effect is also examined as parental …

Emotional Bond Between The Creator And The Avatar: Changes In Behavioral Intentions To Engage In Alcohol-Related Traffic Risk Behaviors, Hokyung Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examines the joint impact of relationship with one's avatar and negative consequences to the avatar on changing behavioral intentions (CBI) in terms of alcohol-impaired driving. Avatars are users' visual self-representation in a virtual world, and play a major role to build the users' digital identity. One hundred eleven participants volunteered to participate in several experimental conditions where the degree of choice of avatar features and the degree of active control of the avatar were manipulated in Second Life, an immersive 3D virtual environment. Participants who were allowed to customize their avatar viewed their avatar more similar and …

Measurements And Transient Multistep Outflow Simulation Of Soil-Water Characteristic Curve For Soils Modified With Biopolymers, Xiaoyi Zhao

Masters Theses

"In recent decades, biopolymers have shown promising applications in soil modification due to its environmental friendly nature. Most of the studies, however, focused on mechanical properties at saturated or unsaturated conditions. The study on unsaturated soil behaviors under controlled pore air and pore water pressures were limited. Soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC), relating water content with matric suction is a key property to evaluate unsaturated soils. With SWCC, other soil properties, such as hydraulic conductivity and shear strength can be estimated. In this study, SWCC of sands modified with different biopolymers were measured with both Tempe cell and Fredlund SWCC device. …

Replication Of Known Dental Characteristics In Porcine Skin: Emerging Technologies For The Imaging Specialist, L. Thomas Johnson, Thomas W. Radmer, Dean C. Jeutter, Gary L. Stafford, Joseph Thulin, Thomas Wirtz, George Corliss, Kwang Woo Ahn, Alexis Visotky, Ronald L. Groffy

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

This study demonstrates that it is sometimes possible to replicate patterns of human teeth in pig skin and determine scientifically that a given injury pattern (bite mark) correlates with the dentitions of a very small proportion of a population dataset, e.g., 5 percent or even 1 percent. The authors recommend building on the template of this research with a sufficiently large database of samples that reflects the diverse world population. They also envision the development of a sophisticated imaging software application that enables forensic examiners to insert parameters for measurement, as well as additional methods of applying force to produce …