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Modified Modis Fluorescence Line Height Data Product To Improve Image Interpretation For Red Tide Monitoring In The Eastern Gulf Of Mexico, Chuanmin Hu, Lian Feng

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Several satellite-based methods have been used to detect and trace Karenia brevis red tide blooms in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Some require data statistics and multiple data products while others use a single data product. Of these, the MODIS normalized fluorescence line height (nFLH) has shown its advantage of detecting blooms in waters rich in colored dissolved organic matter, thus having been used routinely to assess bloom conditions by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the official state agency of Florida responsible for red tide monitoring and mitigation. However, elevated sediment concentrations in the water column due …

Faster Movement Speed Results In Greater Tendon Strain During The Loaded Squat Exercise, Jacob E. Earp, Robert U. Newton, Prue Cormie, Anthony J. Blazevich

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Introduction: Tendon dynamics influence movement performance and provide the stimulus for long-term tendon adaptation. As tendon strain increases with load magnitude and decreases with loading rate, changes in movement speed during exercise should influence tendon strain.

Methods: Ten resistance-trained men [squat one repetition maximum (1RM) to body mass ratio: 1.65 ± 0.12] performed parallel-depth back squat lifts with 60% of 1RM load at three different speeds: slow fixed-tempo (TS: 2-s eccentric, 1-s pause, 2-s concentric), volitional-speed without a pause (VS) and maximum-speed jump (JS). In each condition joint kinetics, quadriceps tendon length (L_T), patellar tendon force …

New Hampshire Beaches: Sediment Characterization, Larry G. Ward, Kaitlyn A. Mcpherran, Zachary S. Mcavoy, Maxlimer Coromoto Vallee-Anziani

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The grain size of the natural sediment composing the major New Hampshire beaches under summer equilibrium conditions was determined as a first step in assessing the optimal sediment size that would be needed for beach nourishment. In summer, 2015, seven major beaches including Wallis Sands, Foss Beach, Jenness Beach, North Hampton Beach, North Beach, Hampton Beach, and Seabrook Beach were sampled along three to five transects extending from the dunes or engineering structures (e.g., seawalls) to the low water line. In addition, the beach cross-section was profiled using a rover GPS system or the Emery method (profile rods and the …

Western Gulf Of Maine Bathymetry And Backscatter Synthesis, Larry G. Ward, Paul Johnson, Erin Nagel, Zachary S. Mcavoy, Maxlimer Coromoto Vallee-Anziani

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

In July 2014 a Cooperative Agreement between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the University of New Hampshire Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, and the New Hampshire Geological Survey was developed to assess the potential sand and gravel resources on the New Hampshire shelf and vicinity for the primary purpose of beach nourishment to enhance coastal resiliency. Of major importance to the effort was the development of high resolution bathymetric maps of the region to provide an understanding of the seafloor and to be used as a base for subsequent mapping products. Fortunately, over the last decade a number …

Whither Reasonable Suspicion: The Supreme Court's Functional Abandonment Of The Reasonableness Requirement For Fourth Amendment Seizures, Steven P. Grossman

All Faculty Scholarship

Although the United States Supreme Court’s approach to issues governing application of the probable cause requirement of the Fourth Amendment has mutated over the years, at least one aspect of its approach has remained constant. Before information leading to probable cause or its lesser iteration of reasonable suspicion is found to exist, the government must demonstrate in some meaningful way the reliability of the person providing the information or of the information itself. Lacking such reliability, no search or seizure based on probable cause or reasonable suspicion is permitted. In its recent decision in Navarette v. California, the Court largely …

Maryland's Family Divisions Are A Model For Change, Barbara A. Babb, Gloria Danziger, Michele H. Hong-Polansky

All Faculty Scholarship

In fiscal year 2014, 43 percent of all cases filed in Maryland’s trial court of general jurisdiction (the circuit court) were family law cases (Court Operations Department, 2014: CC-5). Historically, Maryland courts, like many states’ family justice systems, lacked a uniform structure to consolidate family law issues for an individual family. As a result, families often faced multiple hearings before different judges in different courtrooms to address a variety of issues, such as divorce, domestic violence, delinquency, and child abuse/neglect. This system created tremendous hardship for families (particularly low-income families, many of whom were self-represented litigants) and resulted in fragmented …

En-Gendering Economic Inequality, Michele E. Gilman

All Faculty Scholarship

We live in an era of growing economic inequality. Luminaries ranging from the President to the Pope to economist Thomas Piketty in his bestselling book Capital in the Twenty- First Century have raised alarms about the disparity between the haves and the have-nots. Overlooked, however, in these important discussions is the reality that economic inequality is not a uniform experience; rather, its effects fall more harshly on women and minorities. With regard to gender, American women have higher rates of poverty and get paid less than comparable men, and their workplace participation rates are falling. Yet economic inequality is neither …

Achieving Sex-Representative International Court Benches, Nienke Grossman

All Faculty Scholarship

Twenty-five years ago, in this Journal, Hilary Charlesworth, Christine Chinkin, and Shelley Wright argued that the structures of international law “privilege men.”1 As shown in Table 1, which summarizes data from a forthcoming article, on nine of twelve international courts of varied size, subject-matter jurisdiction, and global and regional membership, women made up 20 percent or less of the bench in mid 2015.2 On many of these courts, the percentage of women on the bench has stayed constant, vacillated, or even declined over time.3 Women made up a lower percentage of the bench in mid 2015 than in previous years …

Public Laws And Private Lawmakers, Kimberly L. Wehle

All Faculty Scholarship

The Obama Administration's "Clean Power Plan" for addressing industrial carbon emissions is controversial as a matter of environmental policy. It also has important constitutional implications. The rule was initially crafted not by officers or employees of the Environmental Protection Agency, but by two private lawyers and a scientist with industry ties. Private parties operate extra-constitutionally, and no existing legal doctrine tethers constitutional scrutiny to the nature of the power delegated to them. The nondelegation doctrine applies to delegations by Congress-not to agencies' subdelegations of legislative power to private parties. The other doctrinal lens for reviewing rulemaking by entities other than …

The Jocks And The Justice: How Sotomayor Restrained College Athletes, Phillip J. Closius

All Faculty Scholarship

Two judicial opinions have shaped the modem college athletic world. NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma declared the NCAA's exclusive control over the media rights to college football violated the Sherman Act. That decision allowed universities and conferences to control their own media revenue and laid the foundation for the explosion of coverage and income in college football today. Clarett v. NFL held that the provision then in the National Football League's (NFL) Constitution and By-Laws that prohibited players from being eligible for the NFL draft until three years from the date of their high school …

Toward A Reality-Based Estate Tax, Wendy C. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

Currently, the estate tax does not accurately value the property and transactions that it is meant to cover. Additionally, the marital and charitable deductions do not reflect actual associated transfers, instead skewing their benefits away from their purported beneficiaries. This Article proposes reforming the estate tax by eliminating these sources of unreality and distortion, and to make the current estate tax a reality-based tax. Through six specific proposals, the Article identifies solutions to the problems associated with testamentary transfers, puts forth alternative methods of valuation to prevent gaming of transfer taxes, and offers significant modifications to two deduction provisions.

Decriminalizing Violence: A Critique Of Restorative Justice And Proposal For Diversionary Mediation, M. Eve Hanan

All Faculty Scholarship

The movement to reduce over-prosecution and mass incarceration has focused almost exclusively on non-violent offenders despite data showing that over half of all prisoners incarcerated within the United States are sentenced for crimes of violence. As a consequence of the focus on nonviolent offenses, the majority of current and future defendants will not benefit from initiatives offering alternatives to criminal prosecution and incarceration.

A discussion of alternatives to the criminal justice system in cases of violent crime must begin by acknowledging that violent crime is not monolithic. Many incidents meet the statutory elements of a violent crime, that is, the …

Putting Public Law Into “Private” Sport, Dionne L. Koller

All Faculty Scholarship

Across all levels of sport—professional, Olympic, intercollegiate, interscholastic, and youth recreational—the prevailing view is that the government should not take an active role in regulating athletics. As a result, there are relatively few federal or state statutes directed at regulating sports, and those that are aimed at sports primarily serve to support the professional sports industry. Moreover, courts show great deference to sports leagues and administrators, most often applying law in a way that insulates and empowers them. This creates a climate where leagues and administrators are permitted wide latitude to structure and conduct their respective sports as they see …

Reflector Magazine, Georgia Southern University, Student Media

Reflector Magazine

• Clothes with a soul
• Back at it again
• Student make-up artist shows the evolution of make-up
• Traveling in college
• Hidden food gems
• Give me some sugar
• Fundamentals of feminism
• Like a boss
• The evolution of recreational drug use
• Tattoo Taboo
• The remark-ability of jam bands enduring presence in music
• Deante Hitchcock

Reflector Magazine, Georgia Southern University, Student Media

Reflector Magazine

• How to maintain a healthy balance in your life
• Places in Georgia to fulfill your wanderlust
• Cultural appropriation
• How healthy are you really being?
• International student's tasty memories of home
• The evolution of a GSU landmark
• Easy dishes you can make after college
• The finer bites of the 'Boro
• Overcoming the statistics of the system
• The classics you have to watch/listen to
• Opening your mind to non-traditional books
• Behind the scenes of an online gaming community
• All about #Relationshipgoals and Tinder
• Creative ways to decorate your space
• The tastes you should know in order to be a functioning adult

Internet Of Things To Smart Iot Through Semantic, Cognitive, And Perceptual Computing, Amit P. Sheth

Publications

Rapid growth in the Internet of Things (IoT) has resulted in a massive growth of data generated by these devices and sensors put on the Internet. Physical-cyber-social (PCS) big data consist of this IoT data, complemented by relevant Web-based and social data of various modalities. Smart data is about exploiting this PCS big data to get deep insights and make it actionable, and making it possible to facilitate building intelligent systems and applications. This article discusses key AI research in semantic computing, cognitive computing, and perceptual computing. Their synergistic use is expected to power future progress in building intelligent systems …

Analysis And Correction Of Corneal Astigmatism In Modern Pseudophakia, Catriona Ann Hamer

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Toric intraocular lenses (IOLs) are designed to reduce spectacle dependency by correcting corneal astigmatism at the time of surgery. However, these IOLs are reliant on the accurate prediction of post-operative corneal astigmatism through reliable ocular biometry and the accurate calculation of surgically induced astigmatism. In the thesis the repeatability of assessing corneal curvature was assessed using six commercially available keratometers. The results question the validity of corneal biometry and infer that much of the apparent change in corneal shape usually associated with surgically induced astigmatism may be due to measurement error. The use of the oblique cross cylinder formulae for …

Identifying Common Therapeutic Targets In Merlin-Deficient Brain Tumours, Kayleigh Bassiri

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) is an autosomal dominant inherited condition that predisposes individuals to develop multiple nervous system tumours, primarily schwannoma, meningioma and ependymoma. NF2 is characterised by loss of the tumour suppressor protein Merlin, caused by bi-allelic mutations of the encoding gene NF2 or by loss of heterozygosity. These tumours can occur either sporadically or as part of the NF2 condition. The majority are slow growing and display benign features, but this benignancy renders them largely unresponsive to classic chemotherapeutic agents leaving surgery and radiosurgery as the only remaining treatment options. Depending on their location, NF2-related tumours can cause …

Using A Virtual World To Teach Joint Protection To People Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial, Rashid Kashani

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Abstract Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease affecting an estimated 1% of the global population. Joint protection is one intervention with some quality evidence of efficacy for RA self-management. However, joint protection education is often provided only in urban centres during Arthritis Self-Management Programs (ASMPs) in classroom sessions at designated times. These programs, therefore, may not be available to all who need them. Providing and testing more accessible methods of delivering joint protection education to people living with RA may improve accessibility. Aims: (i) To develop a virtual world (VW) intervention available via the Internet in Second …

Optimised Mammogram Displays For Improved Breast Cancer Detection, Graeme Alexander Riley

Other Faculty of Health Theses

In current mammography practice, radiologists typically view mammograms in a symmetric, side-by-side, configuration in the belief that abnormalities will be made salient because they break the perceived symmetry. The literature on the use of symmetry as an aid to signal detection is limited and this thesis has taken a psychophysical approach to investigate the radiologist’s task of detecting a small mass (a blob) in paired mammogram backgrounds. Initial experiments used Gaussian white noise and synthetic mammogram backgrounds to test observer performance for the radiologist’s task using symmetric (side-by-side) displays and animated (the two images of a pair alternated sequentially in …

Dose-Banding Studies On Oxaliplatin, Liu Xiaoqing

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Oxaliplatin is an anticancer drug widely used in cancer chemotherapy. This thesis evaluates whether a specific dose-banding scheme for oxaliplatin could replace the individual dosing method that is currently used in the oxaliplatin administration. Dose-banding was introduced into UK clinical practice in 2001, as it reduces delays in patients receiving their treatment and, through quality control and end-product testing, safeguards the infusion quality and patient safety. A range of studies were included in this thesis: an extended stability study on oxaliplatin infusions using a sequential temperature cycling design; studies on oxalate, a potential degradation product and metabolite of oxaliplatin which …

The Restorative Potential Of Public Aquariums: Psychological And Physiological Effects Of Viewing Sub-Aquatic Environments, Deborah Louise Cracknell

Other Faculty of Health Theses

The role of natural environments, especially ‘green space’, in promoting human health and well-being is well-researched. However, less is known about the benefits of ‘blue space’ (e.g. the coast) or ‘managed’ nature (e.g. zoos). In this thesis, six studies investigated the restorative potential of sub-aquatic settings, specifically public aquariums and the biological diversity within them. Studies 1 and 2 investigated preferences for, affective responses to, and the restorative potential of, five built and natural settings (i.e. built, green space, blue space, natural underwater and public aquariums). Using the same measures, Study 3 focused solely on people’s responses to aquarium exhibits, …

An Electrophysiological Examination Of Visuomotor Activity Elicited By Visual Object Affordances, Thomas Oliver Dixon

Other Faculty of Health Theses

A wide literature of predominantly behavioural experiments that use Stimulus Response Compatibility (SRC) have suggested that visual action information such as object affordance yields rapid and concurrent activation of visual and motor brain areas, but has rarely provided direct evidence for this proposition. This thesis examines some of the key claims from the affordance literature by applying electrophysiological measures to well established SRC procedures to determine the verities of the behavioural claims of rapid and automatic visuomotor activation evoked by viewing affording objects. The temporal sensitivity offered by the Lateralised Readiness Potential and by visual evoked potentials P1 and N1 …

An Exploration Of Attachment Strategies Among Young People Who Engage In Harmful Sexual Behaviour, Bartosz Zaniewski

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Background: It is estimated that adolescent offenders account for 65% of contact child sexual abuse. A range of explanatory theories and models of intervention have been proposed. These are mainly based on cognitive theories with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and psycho-education remaining as the dominant models of treatment intervention. This research explored the issue of harmful sexual behaviour from the psychosocial perspective, drawing on attachment theory and social constructionism. Aim: The research explored attachment strategies among young people with harmful sexual behaviour. It examined young people’s understanding and explanations regarding their sexually abusive behaviour. This included an exploration of how …

The Control Of Schwann Cell Myelination During Development And After Nerve Injury, Sheridan Roberts

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Schwann cells are the principal glial cell of the peripheral nervous system and are responsible for axon maintenance, regeneration and increasing saltatory conduction of neurons. Schwann cell differentiation and myelination is mediated by a core network of transcription factors and signalling pathways, which have been divided into two groups; positive and negative regulators. Sox10, NFATc4, Oct6, Krox20 and the ERK 1/2 signalling pathway have been characterised as positive regulators of Schwann cell differentiation and myelination; with Sox10 and Krox20 also playing critical roles in myelin maintenance. On the other hand, transcription factors cJun, Pax3, Id2 and signalling pathways Notch and …

Plastic Fragmentation In The Environment, Nicolas Francis Alexandre Biber

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Microplastics are small piece of plastic debris < 5 mm in diameter, which arise and enter the environment either as a consequence of the direct release of small pieces of plastic debris or as a consequence of the fragmentation of larger items. They are widely distributed in the marine environment, on shorelines, at the sea surface, on the seabed. They are also ingested by a variety of marine organisms, and there is some evidence that this may cause adverse effects. This thesis investigates the potential sources, distribution and fate of this contaminant. Deterioration of plastics in a variety of environments was examined as a potential source of microplastics. Plastics were exposed in light and shade, in air, fresh water and sea water. Their deterioration was monitored over six hundred days. The fastest rate of deterioration, by far, was observed in air, and this was further accelerated by natural sunlight. Degradation in water was much slower and it was therefore concluded that plastic debris only fragments slowly into microplastics while they are in the water, and much faster when they are washed ashore and/or remain exposed to air, for example on a beach. A method to assess the contamination of beaches by microplastics' likely predecessors - small items of plastic debris - was therefore developed. High spatial variability, which can impede comparison between surveys undertaken by random sampling was overcome by assessing deliberately selected debris accumulations. An attempt to utilise citizen science using this rapid survey approach returned too much variability between volunteers to obtain consistent results. Nevertheless, the survey method was successfully used to identify narrow opening towards the sea, small tidal range and several weeks of high on-beach waves as predictors for high contamination. Evidence of harmful effects of microplastics on animals is primarily from laboratory studies and could be substantiated by exposure experiments \emph{in-situ}. Cockles were exposed to fluorescent plastic particles in an intertidal mudflat. After two weeks, particles were still present in the sediment. However, the test material could not be identified in the cockles with enough certainty to validate the method. The thesis concludes that fragmentation of larger items of debris on land is an important potential source of microplastics. Therefore, preventing plastics that are prone to deteriorate from entering the environment is likely the most effective way to prevent the generation of microplastics. Measuring the success of such preventive measures in the field returns highly variable results, as small plastic debris are elusive. Measuring effects in the environment demands large amounts of data, and highly specific methods are required to detect microplastics in animals. The shift of environmental plastic contamination towards small particles demands that plastic debris research adjusts to the elusiveness of these particles. Large volumes of variable data on plastics density and precise biological essays will be required.

Automated Digital Forensics And Computer Crime Profiling, Mahmood Al Fahdi

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Over the past two decades, technology has developed tremendously, at an almost exponential rate. While this development has served the nation in numerous different positive ways, negatives have also emerged. One such negative is that of computer crime. This criminality has even grown so fast as to leave current digital forensic tools lagging behind in terms of development, and capabilities to manage such increasing and sophisticated types of crime. In essence the time taken to analyse a case is huge and increasing, and cases are not fully or properly investigated. This results in an ever-increasing number of pending and unsolved …

Magnetic Fabric, Palaeomagnetic And Structural Investigation Of The Accretion Of Lower Oceanic Crust Using Ophiolitic Analogues, Matthew Charles Meyer

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

This thesis presents the results of a combined magnetic fabric and palaeomagnetic analysis of lower crustal rocks exposed in the Oman (Semail) ophiolite. This has long been an important natural laboratory for understanding the construction of oceanic crust at fast spreading axes and its subsequent tectonic evolution, but magnetic investigations in the ophiolite have been limited. Analyses presented here involve using: (i) magnetic anisotropies as a proxy for magmatic petrofabrics in lower crustal rocks in order to contribute to outstanding questions regarding the mode of accretion of fast-spread oceanic crust; and (ii) classical palaeomagnetic analyses to determine the nature of …

Design Of A Solar Cooling System For Iraq Climate, Shahen Mohammed Fakhraldin

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

With the objectives of designing a solar cooling system with cold storage unit for the Iraqi climate, solar energy resources were assessed and methods were proposed to enhance harvesting the solar energy in the Iraqi climate. Where the results showed that adopting monthly average optimal tilt angles led to an increase in the amount of useful solar energy gained nearly 9%. A methodology of multi objective optimisation of solar absorption cooling system was then developed and demonstrated by applying it in a domestic application in Baghdad. Maximising the system performance in exergy, economic and environment were the objectives of the …

A Retro-Projected Robotic Head For Social Human-Robot Interaction, Frédéric C. Delaunay

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

As people respond strongly to faces and facial features, both consciously and subconsciously, faces are an essential aspect of social robots. Robotic faces and heads until recently belonged to one of the following categories: virtual, mechatronic or animatronic. As an original contribution to the field of human-robot interaction, I present the R-PAF technology (Retro-Projected Animated Faces): a novel robotic head displaying a real-time, computer-rendered face, retro-projected from within the head volume onto a mask, as well as its driving soft-ware designed with openness and portability to other hybrid robotic platforms in mind.The work constitutes the first implementation of a non-planar …