Digital Commons Network^™

Technological Opacity, Predictability, And Self-Driving Cars, Harry Surden, Mary-Anne Williams

Publications

Autonomous or “self-driving” cars are vehicles that drive themselves without human supervision or input. Because of safety benefits that they are expected to bring, autonomous vehicles are likely to become more common. Notably, for the first time, people will share a physical environment with computer-controlled machines that can both direct their own activities and that have considerable range of movement. This represents a distinct change from our current context. Today people share physical spaces either with machines that have free range of movement, but are controlled by people (e.g. automobiles) or with machines that are controlled by computers, but highly …

Accidents Of Federalism: Ratemaking And Policy Innovation In Public Utility Law, William Boyd, Ann E. Carlson

Publications

Decarbonizing the electric power sector will be central to any serious effort to fight climate change. Many observers have suggested that the congressional failure to enact a uniform system of electricity regulation could stifle the transition to a low-carbon electricity grid. This Article contends that the critique is overstated. In fact, innovation is occurring across different aspects of the electricity system and across different types of states in ways one would not expect to see under a single, national approach. As the Article demonstrates, this innovation stems in part from Congress’s failure to enact a single, national approach to electricity …

Siri-Ously? Free Speech Rights And Artificial Intelligence, Toni M. Massaro, Helen Norton

Publications

Computers with communicative artificial intelligence (AI) are pushing First Amendment theory and doctrine in profound and novel ways. They are becoming increasingly self-directed and corporal in ways that may one day make it difficult to call the communication ours versus theirs. This, in turn, invites questions about whether the First Amendment ever will (or ever should) cover AI speech or speakers even absent a locatable and accountable human creator. In this Article, we explain why current free speech theory and doctrine pose surprisingly few barriers to this counterintuitive result; their elasticity suggests that speaker humanness no longer may be …

Investment Accelerators, Brad Bernthal

Publications

This Article documents and explains the legal and extralegal dimensions of Investment Accelerator (IA) systems. Accelerators are a new class of institution that supports entrepreneurs and early stage startups. Investment Accelerators take an ownership stake in companies that participate in an intensive, time-limited program. Interviews reveal the surprising extent to which parties in many Investment Accelerators exchange economic value in the absence of formal agreement. Startups share proprietary information with highly accomplished mentors who, in turn, contribute their time and connections without direct compensation. This under-contracted and informal arrangement raises concerns about opportunism. Data from an original investigation presents a …

Global Homesickness In William Gibson’S Blue Ant Trilogy, Sean Scanlan

Publications and Research

This article explores theories of home, homesickness, and identity instability as they occur in William Gibson’s Blue Ant trilogy, which consists of three novels: Pattern Recognition (2003), Spook Country (2007), and Zero History (2010). In order to clarify this collision and underscore the importance of cultural and aesthetic codes of uneven globalization, this article offers a character study focused through the place-based intensities of global homesickness. Each character has a strained relationship with home: Cayce Pollard only feels at home while reading and writing in an online film forum; Hollis Henry wonders if she might be considered homeless, even though …

Computational Modeling Of A 60kw Oxy-Methane Direct Power Extraction Combustor, Omar Daniel Vidana

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ANSYS Fluent was used to optimize components of a direct power extraction combustor. This includes the fuel injector, nozzle, and cooling units. Changes in the injector's inlet location impacted pressure and velocity distribution. An angle of 115 degrees with respect to the x-axis was found to increase distribution efficiency. Temperature and velocity data from the combustor and nozzle were calculated using NASA CEA and Fluent. Magnitudes of temperature and velocity for CEA and Fluent matched within 9% and 4%, respectively. For the cooling system it is expected that cavitation will not occur since the saturation temperature of water is not …

Video Composition: Tracing Multimodal Assemblages, Zachary Aaron Warzecka

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Video Composition: Tracing Multimodal Assemblages questions and complicates current approaches to integrating digital videography, and new media at large, within academic environments. Given the field of Rhetoric and Writing Studies' persistent desire, if not struggle, to take on alternative modes of composing, the project provides an exploration of the distinct affordances, composing practices and rhetorical principles of digital videography. In particular, the Dissertation traces how videographic composing processes are taught, taken up, and even paved over within two distinct first year-writing classrooms.

In conducting grounded case studies of multimodal classrooms, the Dissertation draws disciplinary and pedagogical commonplaces into conversation with …

Saving The Public Interest Class Action By Unpacking Theory And Doctrinal Functionality, Suzette M. Malveaux

Publications

No abstract provided.

Use Of Dynamic Visualizations For Engineering Technology, Industrial Technology, And Science Education Students: Implications On Ability To Correctly Create A Sectional View Sketch, Petros J. Katsioloudis, Daniel Dickerson, Vukica Jovanovic, Mildred V. Jones

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Spatial abilities, specifically visualization, play a significant role in the achievement in a wide array of professions including, but not limited to, engineering, technical, mathematical, and scientific professions. However, there is little correlation between the advantages of spatial ability as measured through the creation of a sectional-view sketch between engineering technology, industrial technology, and science education students. A causal-comparative study was selected as a means to perform the comparative analysis of spatial visualization ability. This study was done to determine the existence of statistically significant difference between engineering technology, industrial technology, and science education students’ ability to correctly create a …

Tennessee Farm Bureau News - January 2016, Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation

Tennessee Farm Bureau News

No abstract provided.

Identity, Wellness, And Academics: A Move Toward A Freshmen Seminar For All Students, Matthew Torgerson

Theses and Dissertations

Using the Dana (2014) inquiry model, research was conducted to discover what traditional first-year students need to be successful in their academic careers. The research consists extensively of literature review along with casual conversations with faculty, staff, and students at a small, rural college in the Midwest. Through this research, identity development, wellness, and academics were found to be the most prevalent needs for freshmen success. This paper discusses each of these areas in depth as well as gives discussion and recommendations on how identity, wellness, and academics can be implemented into a first-year seminar curriculum.

Demand And Supply: College Faculty’S Perceptions Of Computer Aided Design (Cad) And Computer Aided Manufacture (Cam) In Jewelry Design And Production, Patrick Awotwe

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to explore perceptions of university faculty and jewelry industry professionals regarding the teaching of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) in a visual arts classroom. At the time of this study, there were mixed opinions about the teaching of CAD/CAM in the production of jewelry products, and there was limited literature available on this topic. With the use of CAD/CAM technologies, a jeweler emerges as potentially an artist and a design engineer who can apply creative and innovative principles to industrial design and manufacturing processes. Considering the impact of CAD/CAM …

Teacher Perceptions Of Facilitated Video Analysis Of Instruction In Teacher Professional Development, Benson Ayang Bakabaka

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated inservice teachers’ perceptions of facilitated video analysis of instruction (FAVAI) on teacher professional development. The study borrows from the efficiency video of instruction has provided preservice teachers in previous research. The study made use of a group of five inservice teachers who took a professional development course labeled the Bakabaka Video Pedagogy (BVP). These teachers participated in watching and analyzing videos of instruction. A midcourse anonymous online survey was administered four weeks into the course. At the end of the BVP course, a post-viewing interview was administered to all the participants. The key research questions guiding …

Teachers' Of Students With Visual Impairments Perceptions And Experiences Of Teaching The Expanded Core Curriculum, Renae T. Bjorg

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the qualitative research study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of teachers of students with visual impairments (TSVIs) in the state of North Dakota regarding the expanded core curriculum (ECC). This study included transcribed interviews from six TSVIs who taught in grades K-12.

The National Agenda for the Education of Children and Youths with Visual Impairments, Including Those with Multiple Disabilities was used to frame this study. Phenomenological methods were used to analyze the interviews into codes, categories, themes, and an assertion. Following were the seven themes supported by the data collected:

1. Teachers of students …

Plant And Arthropod Associations With Environmental Gradients In A Northern Tallgrass Prairie, Bryon Wayne Deal

Theses and Dissertations

Plants and arthropods are the base of grassland communities, and their interactions with environmental gradients and each other can determine their composition and spatial structure within a site. The composition and spatial structure of these communities can determine how they contribute to grassland function, yet grassland conservation and restoration efforts typically do not consider both plants and arthropods. As a result, our understanding of how plant and arthropod communities assemble in response to environmental gradients, and each other, in the same space is incomplete. Furthermore, most studies of grassland community assembly do not address assembly across multiple taxonomic levels, and …

A Hydrometeorological And Geospatial Analysis Of Precipitation Within The Glacial Ridge Wildlife Refuge Using The R2ain-Gis Tool, William John Mokry

Theses and Dissertations

Weather radar (radio detection and ranging) is a specialized meteorological tool used to sample and track meteorological objects. This tool is critical for meteorologists and public decision-makers to inform and provide for their constituents in a timely manner, often with the protection of lives and property on the line. With the application of using meteorological and geospatial data in the realm of geographic information systems (G.I.S.), the task of blending the two sciences to inhibit further research and dissemination of information occurs.

This study focuses on the creation and implementation of a new geospatial tool, the Radar and Rainfall Analyzed …

Hypothalamus And Pituitary Gland Development In The Common Snapping Turtle, Chelydra Serpentina, And Disruption With Atrazine Exposure, Kathryn Lee Gruchalla Russart

Theses and Dissertations

Neural control of the endocrine system originates in the hypothalamus in all vertebrates. The hypothalamus signals directly to the pituitary gland to maintain homeostasis by releasing hormones directly into the bloodstream. Hormones travel to peripheral endocrine organs, and regulate widespread activities including growth, metabolism, stress response, circadian rhythms, water balance, and reproduction. Many of these functions have sex-specific aspects, and therefore sexual dimorphism in morphology and function of the hypothalamus is present. Sex-specific genetic background and morphology is established during pre- and peri-natal development, during which sexually dimorphic cellular differentiation occurs and hormonal profiles are set. Disruption of development can …

The Impact Of Anterior Gradient 2 (Agr2) Expression In Models Of Arsenite And Cadmium Induced Breast And Bladder Cancers, Jamie Lynn Van Gieson

Theses and Dissertations

Bladder cancer constitutes one of the most prevalent cancers and is among the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the United States. This work sought to better characterize and understand the role of the proto-oncogene anterior gradient 2 (AGR2) in bladder cancers. Immunohistochemical analysis of AGR2 expression in a range of bladder cancer specimens indicated that the expression of AGR2 decreases with an increase in the stage and grade of bladder cancers. The environmental carcinogens arsenic and cadmium (Cd2+) have been implicated in various cancers. This laboratory has demonstrated that arsenite (As3+) and Cd2+ can malignantly transform the bladder epithelium …

Bone Of My Bone, Miroslav Kis

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Does Isaiah 65:17–25 Describe The Eschatological New Heavens And The New Earth?, Jiří Moskala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Modeling Animal Behavior In A Changing Environment, Shandelle M. Henson, James M. Cushing, James L. Hayward

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Co-Creaturely Associates Or Peers? The Nature Of Animals As Portrayed In Isaiah, A. Rahel Wells

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.