Digital Commons Network^™

A Roadmap For Governance Reforms, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Talks, Speeches, & Discourse

Pakistan has been facing a unique and difficult dilemma for quite some time. Government leaders of the day are unhappy that they are unable to deliver upon the commitments they had made to the electorate at the time of the elections. Policy-Performance Gap is widening every day, Decision making is slow and implementation of decisions almost non-existent. Credibility of each successive government is eroding rapidly among the public at large creating trust deficit in the political leadership. The citizens and society are highly disenchanted and dissatisfied as they are unable to access basic services the state has to provide to …

Program, Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!), 2014, Studio At 620

Program Collection

No abstract provided.

Gut Microbiota-Derived Short-Chain Fatty Acids, T Cells, And Inflammation, Chang Kim, Jeongho Park, Myunghoo Kim

Department of Comparative Pathobiology Faculty Publications

T cells are central players in the regulation of adaptive immunity and immune tolerance. In the periphery, T cell differentiation for maturation and effector function is regulated by a number of factors. Various factors such as antigens, co-stimulation signals, and cytokines regulate T cell differentiation into functionally specialized effector and regulatory T cells. Other factors such as nutrients, micronutrients, nuclear hormones and microbial products provide important environmental cues for T cell differentiation. A mounting body of evidence indicates that the microbial metabolites short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) have profound effects on T cells and directly and indirectly regulate their differentiation. We …

Advanced Adaptive Prognostication Algorithms With Application To Bms, Automotive, And Aerospace Systems, Bharath Pattipati

Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis aims to solve several important problems in engineering. Four fundamental areas of research have been examined: (i) Battery Management Systems; (ii) Battery Fuel Gauging; (iii) Condition-based Maintenance; and (iv) Prognosis in Coupled Systems. The prognostication algorithms developed have been validated on data collected from either real-world or hardware-in-the-loop experiments or both. The approaches proposed are modular and have the potential to be applicable to a wide variety of complex systems, ranging from portable applications to automotive and aerospace systems.

Environmental Study Of The Release Of Btex From Asphalt Modified With Used Motor Oil And Crumb Rubber Modifier, Daniel Bergerson, Magdy Abdelrahman, Mohyeldin Ragab

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The need to be more environmentally conscious has recently shifted toward the forefront of society. With this new focus on environmentally responsible behavior comes the practice of using recycled materials in construction when possible. Therefore it is necessary to carefully evaluate the safety of any recycled materials being used in pavement materials. Under this study, a reference of testing is presented and implemented to test leachate of samples of two different asphalt binder types containing used motor oil (UMO) and/or crumb rubber modifier (CRM) for the presence of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX). Alongside batch leaching tests, air testing …

Enso Teleconnection Pattern Changes Over The Southeastern United States Under A Climate Change Scenario In Cmip5 Models, Ji-Hyun Oh, D.W. Shin, Steven D. Cocke, Guillermo A. Baigorria

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A strong teleconnection exists between the sea surface temperature (SST) over the tropical Pacific and the winter precipitation in the southeastern United States (SE US).This feature is adopted to validate the fidelity of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) in this study. In addition, the authors examine whether the teleconnection pattern persists in the future under a global warming scenario. Generally, most of the eight selected models show a positive correlation between November SST over Ni˜no 3 region and December–February (DJF) mean daily precipitation anomalies over the SE US, consistent with the observation. However, the models with poor realization …

Challenges In Lifestyle And Community Interventions Research; A Call For Innovation, Tommy Ls Visscher, Colin Bell, Jessica S. Gubbels, Terry T-K Huang, Maria J. Bryant, Anna Peeters, Genevieve Horne, Simone A. French

Publications and Research

Earlier this year the BMC portfolio was enriched by a new journal BMC Obesity. Here, we present the aims and objectives of the section on Lifestyle and Community Interventions. Innovative research is needed. Preventing or managing obesity requires addressing different determinants across multiple levels where diverse levers and stakeholders can play a critical role. Interactions of these determinants within and between systems need to be studied. How to leverage, manage and measure this complexity underlies the innovation that is needed in the next generation of obesity interventions. The ambition of the Lifestyle and Community Interventions section is to provide a …

Investigating The Links Between Ozone And Organic Aerosol Chemistry In A Biomass Burning Plume From A Prescribed Fire In California Chaparral, M. J. Alvarado, C. R. Lonsdale, Robert Yokelson, S. K. Akagi, H. Coe, J. S. Craven, E. V. Fischer, G. R. Mcmeeking, J. H. Seinfeld, T. Soni, J. W. Taylor, D. R. Weise, C. E. Wold

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Within minutes after emission, rapid, complex photochemistry within a biomass burning smoke plume can cause large changes in the concentrations of ozone (O₃) and organic aerosol (OA). Being able to understand and simulate this rapid chemical evolution under a wide variety of conditions is a critical part of forecasting the impact of these fires on air quality, atmospheric composition, and climate. Here we use version 2.1 of the Aerosol Simulation Program (ASP) to simulate the evolution of O₃ and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) within a young biomass burning smoke plume from the Williams prescribed burn in chaparral, …

A Central Support System Can Facilitate Implementation And Sustainability Of A Classroom-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (Cure) In Genomics, David Lopatto, Charles Hauser, Christopher J. Jones, Don Paetkau, Randall J. Dejong

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

In their 2012 report, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology advocated “replacing standard science laboratory courses with discovery-based research courses”—a challenging proposition that presents practical and pedagogical difficulties. In this paper, we describe our collective experiences working with the Genomics Education Partnership, a nationwide faculty consortium that aims to provide undergraduates with a research experience in genomics through a scheduled course (a classroom-based undergraduate research experience, or CURE). We examine the common barriers encountered in implementing a CURE, program elements of most value to faculty, ways in which a shared core support system can help, and the …

Optimizing Data Movement In Hybrid Analytic Systems, Patrick Michael Leyshock

Dissertations and Theses

Hybrid systems for analyzing big data integrate an analytic tool and a dedicated data-management platform, storing data and operating on the data at both components. While hybrid systems have benefits over alternative architectures, in order to be effective, data movement between the two hybrid components must be minimized. Extant hybrid systems either fail to address performance problems stemming from inter-component data movement, or else require the user to explicitly reason about and manage data movement. My work presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of a hybrid analytic system for array-structured data that automatically minimizes data movement between the hybrid components. …

The Uhf Discount And The National Television Ownership Rule: “This I Tell You, Brother: You Can’T Change One Without The Other”, Bill Durdach

CommLaw Conspectus: Journal of Communications Law and Technology Policy (1993-2015)

No abstract provided.

The Ip Transition And The Need For Common Carrier Regulation, Nicholas Kokkinos

CommLaw Conspectus: Journal of Communications Law and Technology Policy (1993-2015)

No abstract provided.

Fall Commencement [Program], December 20, 2014, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Commencement Programs

The program of the commencement ceremonies, including a list of institutional leadership, a list of the departments by college, awards given at the ceremonies, and a list of undergraduate and graduate degree candidates.

The Value Of Balanced Growth For Transportation, Kirby Date, Jacqueline M. Jenkins, Wendy A. Kellogg, Kathryn W. Hexter, Suzann Rhodes

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The Ohio Balanced Growth Program is a voluntary, locally-driven, incentive-driven program which aims to encourage compact, nodal development patterns. The Ohio Department of Transportation provided support for this research to evaluate potential links between Balanced Growth-type policy, land use and development patterns, and transportation benefits.

A literature review was completed to understand the existing body of knowledge regarding the connection between policy, land use, and transportation. This included a scan of Balanced Growth-type programs across the US. Twenty-six US Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) were selected and reviewed for general geographic and policy characteristics. Land use and transportation outcome data were …

165th Commencement, Fall

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Biodiesel Production From Castor Oil And Its Application In Diesel Engine, Ismail S, Abu S. A, Rezaur R, Sinin H

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

In this study, the optimum biodiesel conversion from crude castor oil to castor biodiesel (CB) through transesterification method was investigated. The base catalyzed transesterification under different reactant proportion such as the molar ratio of alcohol to oil and mass ratio of catalyst to oil was studied for optimum production of castor biodiesel. The optimum condition for base catalyzed transesterification of castor oil was determined to be 1:4.5 of oil to methanol ratio and 0.005:1 of potassium hydroxide to oil ratio. The fuel properties of the produced CB such as the calorific value, flash point and density were analyzed and compared …

Investigating Broadband Variability Of The Tev Blazar 1es 1959+650, P. T. Reynolds, Veritas

Physical Sciences Publications

We summarize broadband observations of the TeV-emitting blazar 1ES 1959+650, including optical R-band observations by the robotic telescopes Super-LOTIS and iTelescope, UV observations by Swift Ultraviolet and Optical Telescope, X-ray observations by the Swift X-ray Telescope, high-energy gamma-ray observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope, and very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations by VERITAS above 315 GeV, all taken between 2012 April 17 and 2012 June 1 (MJD 56034 and 56079). The contemporaneous variability of the broadband spectral energy distribution is explored in the context of a simple synchrotron self Compton (SSC) model. In the SSC emission scenario, we find that the …

When Convenience Is Inconvenient: ‘Healthy’ Family Foodways And The Persistent Intersectionalities Of Gender And Class, Julie M. Parsons

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This article draws on findings from an auto/biographical study about relationships with food to demonstrate how everyday foodways continue to be influenced by the intersectionalities of gender and class. Following Bourdieu [1984. Distinction, a social critique of the judgement of taste. London: Routledge] how ‘foodies’ use food and foodways (the production, preparation, serving and eating of food) as a material and cultural display of capital (Johnston, J., & Baumann, S. 2010. Foodies, democracy and distinction in the gourmet kitchen. London: Routledge) or even ‘culinary capital’ (Naccarato, P., & LeBesco, K. 2012. Culinary capital. London: Berg) has been demonstrated. There has …

Digital Vs. Print: Reading Comprehension And The Future Of The Book, M. Julee Tanner

School of Information Student Research Journal

The future of books and libraries is put into question by the increasing popularity of e-books and the use of computers as text platforms. In an effort to anticipate which reading platform—print, e-readers, or computers displays—will dominate in the coming years, recent research and experimental data on the suitability of each reading platform for reading comprehension will be considered, from the perspectives of optical issues, cognition, and metacognition. It will be shown that, while printed books are most conducive to learning from longer, more difficult texts, e-readers and computer displays offer convenience and some distinct advantages to readers in particular …

Website Blocked: Filtering Technology In Schools And School Libraries, Jennifer M. Overaa

School of Information Student Research Journal

This paper investigates the impact of filtering software in K-12 schools and school libraries. The Children's Internet Protection Act, or CIPA, requires that public schools and school libraries use filtering technology in order to receive discounted rates on technology. As a result, nearly all public elementary and secondary schools today use filtering technology. While the provisions of CIPA narrowly define the content to be blocked, filters are often set to block much more than is required. Filtering technology is often ineffective, and many unobjectionable sites end up being blocked, including Web 2.0 sites and tools needed to educate students in …

Digital Image Correlation And Edge Detection: Applications In Materials Testing, Shan Yuan

Open Access Dissertations

Digital image processing (DIP) methods have been applied in civil engineering for many years. In this dissertation, DIP methods are applied to (1) quantify the mechanical properties of metallic and cementitious composites loaded in uni-axial tension, and (2) evaluate the effectiveness of removing paint from concrete surfaces. DIP is an optical method to characterize the behavior of the visible domain on the surface of the specimen. Strain, an important measurement in mechanics of materials, can be measured by a digital image processing method known as Digital Image Correlation (DIC). Traditional DIC tracks the change in position of speckles on the …

Interleukin-17 Inhibits Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis, Qiang Liu, Wei Xin, Ping He, Dharshaun Turner, Junxiang Yin, Yan Gan, Fu Dong Shi, Jie Wu

Translational Neuroscience

Interleukin 17(A) (IL-17) is a potent pro-inflammatory cytokine that acts as a central regulator of inflammatory response within the brain, but its physiological roles under non-inflammatory conditions remain elusive. Here we report that endogenous IL-17 ablates neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus (DG) of hippocampus. Genetic deletion of IL-17 increased the number of adult-born neurons in the DG. Further, we found that IL-17 deletion altered cytokine network, facilitated basal excitatory synaptic transmission, enhanced intrinsic neuronal excitability, and increased expression of proneuronal genes in neuronal progenitor cells (NPCs). Our findings suggest a profound role of IL-17 in the negative regulation of …

Volume 50 - Issue 11 - Friday, December 19, 2014, Rose Thorn Staff

The Rose Thorn Archive

The Rose Thorn, Rose-Hulman's independent student newspaper.

2014 Winter Boise State University Commencement Program, Boise State University Commencement Committee

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Innovation And The Evolution Of Regulation: Emerging Tensions And Emerging Opportunities In Communications, Larry Downes, John W. Mayo

CommLaw Conspectus: Journal of Communications Law and Technology Policy (1993-2015)

No abstract provided.

Why We Built A Teleportation Machine And Why It Was A Bad Idea: Marcus Landers’ Oral History About The Invention Of The World’S First Matter Transference Device, James Brubaker

Booth

Stevie and I were sick of this town. That’s why we built our teleportation machine. Or rather, we decided to build our teleportation machine in part because we were sick of this town, but also because this town’s public transportation isn’t very good, and both of us got busted for Operating a Vehicle after Underage Consumption and lost our licenses for two years—though neither of us even owned a car to begin with—and because my mom is dead and my dad is a drunk, and because Stevie’s parents, while both alive and not drunks, are too busy to drive him …

Guidelines And Best Practices For Large And Mass Tort Mdls (First Edition), Duke Law School Center For Judicial Studies

Bolch Judicial Institute Publications

Mass-tort MDLs dominate the federal civil docket, yet they present enormous challenges to transferee judges assigned to manage them. There is little official guidance and no rules specific to the management of mass-tort MDLs, often requiring the transferee judge to develop procedures out of whole cloth.

Beginning in 2013, the Bolch Judicial Institute (then the Center for Judicial Studies) sought to address this issue through a series of annual bench-bar conferences. From these conferences came the Guidelines and Best Practices for Large and Mass-Tort MDLs document, which is designed to help judges and legal practitioners understand and efficiently navigate complex …

Uab Looks To Build On Many 2014 Successes In The New Year, Jim Bakken

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Thermal Interconnectivity Of Utilities In Rural Alaska, Christopher J. Mercer

Student Projects for Graduate Degrees

Throughout the arctic there are two primary community utilities with dramatically contrary thermodynamic concerns. These are the intensely exothermic diesel electric power generation, and the strongly endothermic water and sewer utility. In this context exothermic processes must expel excess heat while endothermic process requires heat input. Failure of engineers, community planners, funding agencies, and interest groups to recognize the full social, economic, and environmental impact to the sustainability of utilities has come at tremendous cost. This is exemplified in many remote Alaskan communities such as Toksook Bay, Minto, Deering, and Kotlik.

De Novo Design Of A Transmembrane Zn2+-Transporting Four-Helix Bundle, Nathan H. Joh, Tuo Wang, Manasi P. Bhate, Rudresh Acharya, Yibing Wu, Michael Grabe, Mei Hong, Gevorg Grigoryan, William F. Degrado

Faculty Publications

The design of functional membrane proteins from first principles represents a grand challenge in chemistry and structural biology. Here, we report the design of a membranespanning, four-helical bundle that transports first-row transition metal ions Zn 2+ and Co2+, but not Ca2+, across membranes. The conduction path was designed to contain two di-metal binding sites that bind with negative cooperativity. X-ray crystallography and solid-state and solution nuclear magnetic resonance indicate that the overall helical bundle is formed from two tightly interacting pairs of helices, which form individual domains that interact weakly along a more dynamic interface. Vesicle flux experiments show that …