Digital Commons Network^™

The Necessity Of Fundamental Math In College, Spencer A. Mcduffy, Sr.

All Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the status of developmental math courses in higher education settings, particularly community colleges, which are designed to increase the likelihood of student success in credit math classes. Non-credit remedial mathematics courses have a long curricular history in community college and university settings. The following discussion will examine the numerous contributing factors impacting the requirements of developmental education in postsecondary settings, while placing specific emphasis on the necessity for a math literate population, as most college students must take at least one course to earn a degree or credential. To improve student persistence …

Anxious Totems, Katherine Wraczewska

All Student Theses and Dissertations

Throwing clay on the potter·s wheel, I feel a wave of calm, like I am finally in control of something. Carving and creating texture on clay after a piece is thrown, is the ultimate release. Carving is obsessive, compulsive, and even ritualistic. Each mark that I make has a purpose or thought behind it. This is something that is definitely different from my daily cycle of panic and unease. Anxiety. I worry too much, I can't tum this off. Clay has been the only outlet I found to help me hush these racing thoughts. By creating ceramic sculptural works my …

Predator-Prey Coevolution Drives Productivity-Richness Relationships In Planktonic Systems, Zhichao Pu, Michael H. Cortez, Lin Jiang

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

The relationship between environmental productivity and species richness often varies among empirical studies, and despite much research, simple explanations for this phenomenon remain elusive. We investigated how phytoplankton and zooplankton coevolution shapes productivity-richness relationships in both phytoplankton and zooplankton, using a simple nutrient-phytoplankton-zooplankton model that incorporates size-dependent metabolic rates summarized from empirical studies. The model allowed comparisons of evolved species richness across productivity levels and at different evolutionary times. Our results show that disruptive selection leads to evolutionary branching of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Both the time required for evolutionary branching and the number of evolved species in phytoplankton and zooplankton …

The Secret To 85% First-Time Bar Passage Rates, Jeffrey S. Kinsler, David L. Hudson Jr.

Law Faculty Scholarship

Many law schools have implemented bar preparation courses either as free-standing courses or as an integral part of their academic support program. On April 1, 2016, the ABA Journal published an article on the subject of law school bar preparation courses. Three law schools were featured in that article: Belmont University College of Law ("Belmont"), Florida International University College of Law ("FIU"), and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law ("UMKC"). According to the ABA Journal, these law schools are out-performing their peers on bar exams due in part to in-house bar preparation courses. The story in the ABA …

Is Bar Exam Failure A Harbinger Of Professional Discipline?, Jeffrey S. Kinsler

Law Faculty Scholarship

Two of the reasons students fail the bar exam are lack of diligence and incompetence; these are also the primary reasons attorneys are disciplined. Using bar exam and disciplinary data from Tennessee, this Article substantiates the following theses: (1) The more times it takes a lawyer to pass the bar exam the more likely that lawyer will be disciplined for ethical violations, particularly early in the lawyer’s career; and (2) The more times it takes a lawyer to pass the bar exam the more likely that lawyer will be disciplined for lack of diligence—including non-communication—and/or incompetence.

Religious Freedom: The Original Civil Liberty, Loren E. Mulraine

Law Faculty Scholarship

What exactly is a “civil right?” What is a “civil liberty?” Are they synonymous? To the average American, the term “civil rights” conjures up images of the Jim Crow south, Rosa Parks, the Montgomery bus boycott, James Meredith’s integration of the University of Mississippi, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and the Freedom Riders in Mississippi, among other historic events of the 1950’s and 60’s. Indeed, these are some of the most iconic events in modern U.S. history. They are also among the most important events in the modern civil rights movement. The legal area …

Collision Course: State Community Property Laws And Termination Rights Under The Federal Copyright Act - Who Should Have The Right Of Way?, Loren E. Mulraine

Law Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of recapture rights under copyright law, as well as a primer on the difference between common law and community property law as it relates to property rights in a divorce proceeding. The paper will utilize as a case study the dispute between William “Smokey” Robinson and his former spouse, Claudette Robinson, and provide a statutory solution for future disputes where federal copyright law and state community property laws collide at the intersection of copyright terminations. Specifically, should these newly recaptured rights be treated as a new estate and thus not …

Evidence Of A Perilipin 5 Splice Variant, Brodie Ranzau

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Alternative splicing occurs throughout the human genome, leading to multiple proteins from a single gene. The resulting proteins can be nearly identical or vastly different in how they function. Alternative splicing within the perilipin family has been observed in perilipins 1 and 3, giving rise to proteins with varying functions. In the course of our studies on perilipin 5, an immunoblot signal was observed that corresponded to an approximately 35 kDa protein. Western blot analysis of this protein has revealed its expression in C2C12 cultured myoblasts and in heart and liver mouse tissue. Further analysis of perilipin 5 cDNA through …

Anti-Profanity Laws And The First Amendment, David L. Hudson Jr.

Law Faculty Scholarship

The essay first examines several current state laws that prohibit profanity under certain circumstances. It then details a few recent cases in which individuals were convicted for uttering profanity. The next section explains how profanity can be a part of an unprotected category of speech, such as fighting words, true threats, or harassment. Finally, the essay examines whether such laws and cases comport with First Amendment principles.

Never Enough: Animal Hoarding Law, Courtney G. Lee

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

Animal hoarding, a disorder that causes sufferers to acquire animals compulsively despite the inability or unwillingness to provide them with adequate care, is a widespread, costly, often underestimated problem that causes more animal suffering than all acts of intentional cruelty combined. Not only are animals harmed, but humans are as well, from dependents that live with hoarders to members of the surrounding communities to the hoarders themselves. Current laws do not address the issue effectively, and recidivism rates are close to 100%. This Article seeks to increase awareness of the animal hoarding problem and offers suggestions as to how the …

Cirt News - January 2017, Center For Instruction & Research Technology (Cirt)

CIRT News

This issue contains the following articles:

Faculty Spotlight: Using 3D Printing to Create Custom Lab Tools

Director's Message: Key Issues in Teaching and Learning

Upcoming Events

Digital Thinking: Copyright Resources for Faculty

Best Practices Online: Implementing E-Journals into Your Course

Canvas News

New in CIRT: Fresh Faces & New Equipment

Catalog 2017-2018, University Of North Florida

UNF Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Book Review, The Electric Battery: Charging Forward To A Low-Carbon Future, Joel Eisen

Law Faculty Publications

The Electric Battery is the product of a Vermont Law School team led by Kevin Jones, the school’s Director of the Institute for Energy and the Environment. It is an essential resource for scholars, policymakers and others interested in the future for storage technologies in transportation and electricity, the sectors of the economy that produce the most greenhouse gases. Professor Jones brings considerable expertise to the project, having produced well-regarded reports on smart grid issues, and some projects mentioned in the book – such as the partnership between Tesla and Green Mountain Power – are located in the authors’ home …

Corporate Family Law, Allison Anna Tait

Law Faculty Publications

There is no such thing as corporate family law. But there are corporate families, and corporate families fight. What happens when corporate family members fight and the conflict is so severe that one or more of the parties wants out of the corporate relationship? Corporate law provides some solutions, but they are shaped by the assumption that all parties will bargain effectively for protections when seeking to exit a corporate relationship. Under this theory, family business is, after all, just business. The problem with this assumption is that corporate family members do not bargain the way that corporate law expects. …

Demand Response’S Three Generations: Market Pathways And Challenges In The Modern Electric Grid, Joel Eisen

Law Faculty Publications

Through a historical analysis spanning nearly five decades, this Article provides a comprehensive discussion of how demand response (reductions in electricity consumption in response to grid emergencies or price signals) has become both a growing resource on the electric grid and a policy trailblazer in the grid’s ongoing transformation. The discussion centers on three separate generations of efforts to promote demand-side measures in the electric grid, dating to the 1960s and oriented chronologically around important events in the electric power industry.

Demand response has been a test bed of important regulatory principles like frameworks for interactivity with the grid, the …

International Adjudicative Bodies, Chiara Giorgetti

Law Faculty Publications

The past fifty years have seen a tremendous rise in international litigation. There are more parties who are more prone to use international law mechanisms to resolve their disputes, and more international actors have more forums available to them to which they can bring their disputes. Indeed, the multifaceted growth of international dispute resolution is one of international law's most important and interesting recent developments.

At the heart of this development are international adjudicative bodies, a diverse group of international bodies that have a common dispute settlement function, the outcome of which is binding on the parties. This chapter examines …

Family Law Legislative Update, Jason Zarin

Law Faculty Publications

The Virginia General Assembly adjourned sine die on April 5, 2017. One bill affecting adoption was successfully vetoed, and several bills affecting adoption were enacted. Following is a preview of some possible legislation that may be introduced for the 2018 session.

Brazil's Olympic-Era Anti-Corruption Reforms, Andrew B. Spalding

Law Faculty Publications

A country once renowned for glorifying corruption now leads what may be the furthest-reaching anti-corruption investigation in history. Brazil, once typified by its "Brazilian jeitinho" way of creatively navigating social problems,' now executes "Operation Car Wash," bringing down political and business leaders by the dozens. So too has Brazil's Congress adopted a series of dramatic, and effective, new anti-corruption laws, in response to public outcries for reform. It is deeply ironic, but not at all coincidental, that Brazil concurrently hosted the Summer Olympics. This paper chronicles the extraordinary series of events that connect - in a line that is straight …

Why Legal Writers Should Think Like Teachers, Laura A. Webb

Law Faculty Publications

This article proposes that new legal writers can improve their work by “thinking like teachers.” I assert that legal writing is fundamentally educative. Good writing thus requires good teaching. The article discusses the “curse of knowledge,” which makes it difficult for a writer who fully understands her topic to remember how a reader who is less knowledgeable about the topic will approach the material. It then explores three concepts from the science of learning — context, chunking, and connections — and discusses how a writer can use these concepts to effectively teach her readers.

Personal Reflections On The Honorable Robert R. Merhige, Jr.: A Judge, Mentor, And Friend, Mary Kelly Tate

Law Faculty Publications

Twenty-six years – half my lifetime – have passed since I joined Judge Merhige's court family as his law clerk. I attempt here to sketch my personal impressions, distilling what to me was most remarkable about Robert R. Merhige, Jr. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this dynamic man turned legendary judge – a man I revered from the moment I met him – is more vivid to me now than he was to my younger self.

Mercurial, energetic, and benevolently despotic, Judge Merhige was a man of extraordinary decency who cherished his vocation and the law. He was a World War II veteran …

360 Cam, Nathan Elmer, Mahli Guerrero, Eric Rasmussen

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The 360 Cam Camera is capable of taking panoramic images without moving any camera lenses. The panoramic image is then used to track an object through a 360-degree field of view.

Sonahr: An Open Water Navigational Device, Zakk Rhodes

Electrical and Computer Engineering

SONAHR is a stand-alone unit for open water navigation, mainly geared towards swimming. It is designed to help swimmers to stay on course in any course that the swimmer wants to swim.

Wireless Charging System For Low-Power Devices, Sara Larson

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Many Smartphone users have experienced a broken or missing charging cable at some point. Over 200 million Americans own a low-power device (according to a Pew Research Center Survey taken in October of 2015). So there is a large target market for this sleek option to charge low-power devices.

Smartbeat Car Seat Clip, Kevin Johnson, Nathan Yost

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Smartbeat Clip is an infant temperature monitor for car seats. It combines cutting edge computing and wireless communication technology to provide parents with an additional assurance that their child is protected.

The Smartbeat Clip system consists of an electronic base, which communicates with a key fob, a display, and a mobile app. The three devices will alert the user if the ambient temperature near his/her child rises above 80 degrees Fahrenheit while in a car seat.

Role Of Assurance On The Enhancement Of Value-Relevance Of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure, Pimolwan Chayapornkul

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Investors have become increasingly aware that annual financial reporting alone cannot provide all salient information about a firm. The non-financial information such as CSR information is also important and useful. However, the disclosure of non-financial information, especially the separate CSR report, is voluntary. In addition, the assurance for CSR reporting is also currently the firm's voluntary. Therefore, this research aims to investigate whether the disclosure of CSR represents the value-relevant information for investors and to investigate whether the assurance of CSR disclosure also represents the value-relevant information. Unlike prior studies which focused on the availability of assurance statement, this research …

Effects And Mechanisms Of Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus (Prrsv) Type 1 And Type 2 On The Permeability And Viability Of Porcine Endometrial Epithelial Cells, Dran Rukarcheep

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Both PRRSV types 1 and 2 revealed the sign of reproductive disorders associated with a lesion at implantation sites. Impairment of maternal glandular endometrium cell integrity and function by PRRSV infection may impact a proper nourishing fetus. This research was aimed to examine the effects of PRRSV type 1 and type 2 directly on the viability and barrier function of the endometrium using porcine glandular endometrial epithelial cell culture (PEG). The comparison of the route and the strain of PRRSV infection coinciding with their virulent in reproductive epithelia were considered. PEG cells isolated from the 4-6 months old PRRSV-free-herd gilts …

Potentials Of Ivabradine To Improve Cardiac Function In Dogs With Naturally Occurring, Asymptomatic Degenerative Mitral Valve Disease, Prapawadee Pirintr

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The main hypothesis of the present study is that ivabradine (1.0 mg/kg, orally, twice daily) can reduce heart rate (HR), myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO2) and improve cardiac function in dogs with degenerative mitral valve disease (DMVD) partly due to a reduction of cardiomyocyte apoptosis. In order to test the hypothesis, this study was divided into three parts. The first part aimed to determine the appropriate single oral dose of ivabradine for reduction of HR and MVO2 as assessed by rate-pressure product (RPP= HR x systolic blood pressure). Once the appropriate dose was achieved, the second part was conducted to investigate …

The Joint Effects Of Management Incentives And Perceived Locus Of Causality On Management Earnings Forecast Disclosures, Kanjana Phonsumlissakul

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This study investigates the effect of management incentives (directive and transparency) and locus of causality (internal and external) on the willingness of managers to disclose management earnings forecast reports and the accuracy of management's earnings forecast information. The experimental findings show that managers with directive incentives are less likely to disclose the earnings forecast and provide less accurate information to market participants than managers with transparency incentives, for both point and range forecast forms. In addition, locus of causality contributes to the accuracy of management earnings forecast information when the forecasts suggest underperformance, but the findings reveal no significant differences …

Role Of Assurance On The Enhancement Of Value-Relevance Of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure, Pimolwan Chayapornkul

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Investors have become increasingly aware that annual financial reporting alone cannot provide all salient information about a firm. The non-financial information such as CSR information is also important and useful. However, the disclosure of non-financial information, especially the separate CSR report, is voluntary. In addition, the assurance for CSR reporting is also currently the firm's voluntary. Therefore, this research aims to investigate whether the disclosure of CSR represents the value-relevant information for investors and to investigate whether the assurance of CSR disclosure also represents the value-relevant information. Unlike prior studies which focused on the availability of assurance statement, this research …

Potentials Of Ivabradine To Improve Cardiac Function In Dogs With Naturally Occurring, Asymptomatic Degenerative Mitral Valve Disease, Prapawadee Pirintr

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The main hypothesis of the present study is that ivabradine (1.0 mg/kg, orally, twice daily) can reduce heart rate (HR), myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO2) and improve cardiac function in dogs with degenerative mitral valve disease (DMVD) partly due to a reduction of cardiomyocyte apoptosis. In order to test the hypothesis, this study was divided into three parts. The first part aimed to determine the appropriate single oral dose of ivabradine for reduction of HR and MVO2 as assessed by rate-pressure product (RPP= HR x systolic blood pressure). Once the appropriate dose was achieved, the second part was conducted to investigate …