Digital Commons Network^™

Holocene Formation And Evolution Of Horn Island, Mississippi, Usa, Nina Gal

Master's Theses

Horn Island, one of the most stable barriers along the Mississippi-Alabama chain, provides critical habitat, helps regulate estuarine conditions in the Mississippi Sound, and reduces wave energy and storm surge for the mainland. This study integrates 2,200 km of high-resolution geophysics, 35 sediment cores, and 15 radiocarbon ages to better understand the formation and evolution of the island in response to sea-level rise, storms, and antecedent geology. The Biloxi and Pascagoula incised valleys converge at Horn Island and have played a profound role in the evolution of the system. Within the incised valleys, numerous shallow paleochannels between 4 and 9 …

Rhetoric, Legislation, And The Felony Offender, Cyrus Taylor

Master's Theses

Rhetoric is arguably of more importance than the message that is being overtly conveyed. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand how rhetoric can be utilized to convey one message while simultaneously transmitting another distinct message (Walter 2017). In this study, discourse analysis was conducted by examining the rhetoric associated with the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (VCCLE), through the use of legislative speeches and newspaper articles, to determine how language has effectively resulted in the relegation of felony offenders within a class-based society. Utilizing two theories, class structure theory and distributive justice theory, an understanding was …

A Brief Review Of Mueller Matrix Calculations Associated With Oceanic Particles, Bingqiang Sun, George W. Kattawar, Ping Yang, Xiaodong Zhang

Earth System Science and Policy Faculty Publications

The complete Stokes vector contains much more information than the radiance of light for the remote sensing of the ocean. Unlike the conventional radiance-only radiative transfer simulations, a full Mueller matrix-Stokes vector treatment provides a rigorous and correct approach for solving the transfer of radiation in a scattering medium, such as the atmosphere-ocean system. In fact, radiative transfer simulation without considering the polarization state always gives incorrect results and the extent of the errors induced depends on a particular application being considered. However, the rigorous approach that fully takes the polarization state into account requires the knowledge of the complete …

Early Prediction Of Merged Code Changes To Prioritize Reviewing Tasks, Yuanrui Fan, Xin Xia, David Lo, Shanping Li

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Modern Code Review (MCR) has been widely used by open source and proprietary software projects. Inspecting code changes consumes reviewers much time and effort since they need to comprehend patches, and many reviewers are often assigned to review many code changes. Note that a code change might be eventually abandoned, which causes waste of time and effort. Thus, a tool that predicts early on whether a code change will be merged can help developers prioritize changes to inspect, accomplish more things given tight schedule, and not waste reviewing effort on low quality changes. In this paper, motivated by the above …

Sybmatch: Sybil Detection For Privacy-Preserving Task Matching In Crowdsourcing, Jiangang Shu, Ximeng Liu, Kan Yang, Yinghui Zhang, Xiaohua Jia, Robert H. Deng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The past decade has witnessed the rise of crowdsourcing, and privacy in crowdsourcing has also gained rising concern in the meantime. In this paper, we focus on the privacy leaks and sybil attacks during the task matching, and propose a privacy-preserving task matching scheme, called SybMatch. The SybMatch scheme can simultaneously protect the privacy of publishers and subscribers against semi-honest crowdsourcing service provider, and meanwhile support the sybil detection against greedy subscribers and efficient user revocation. Detailed security analysis and thorough performance evaluation show that the SybMatch scheme is secure and efficient.

Making A Good Thing Better: Enhancing Password/Pin-Based User Authentication With Smartwatch, Bing Chang, Yingjiu Li, Qiongxiao Wang, Wen-Tao Zhu, Robert H. Deng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Wearing smartwatches becomes increasingly popular in people’s lives. This paper shows that a smartwatch can help its bearer authenticate to a login system effectively and securely even if the bearer’s password has already been revealed. This idea is motivated by our observation that a sensor-rich smartwatch is capable of tracking the wrist motions of its bearer typing a password or PIN, which can be used as an authentication factor. The major challenge in this research is that a sophisticated attacker may imitate a user’s typing behavior as shown in previous research on keystroke dynamics based user authentication. We address this …

Pribioauth: Privacy-Preserving Biometric-Based Remote User Authentication, Yangguang Tian, Yingjiu Li, Ximeng Liu, Robert H. Deng, Binanda Sengupta

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Biometric-based remote user authentication (BRUA) is a useful primitive that allows an authorized user to remotely authenticate to a cloud server using biometrics. However, the existing BRUA solutions in the client-server setting lack certain privacy considerations. For example, authorized user's multiple sessions should not be linked while his identity remains anonymous to cloud server. In this work, we introduce an identity-concealed and unlinkable biometric-based remote user authentication framework, such that authorized users authenticate to an honest-but-curious server in an anonymous and unlinkable manner. In particular, we employ two non-colluding cloud servers to perform the complex biometrics matching. We formalize two …

Attention-Based Lstm-Cnns For Uncertainty Identification On Chinese Social Media Texts, Binyang Li, Kaiming Zhou, Wei Gao, Xu Han Han, Linna Zhou

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Uncertainty identification is an important semantic processing task, which is crucial to the quality of information in terms of factuality in many techniques, e.g. topic detection, question answering. Especially in social media, the texts are written informally which are widely used in many applications, so the factuality has become a premier concern. However, existing approaches that still rely on lexical cues suffer greatly from the casual or word-of-mouth peculiarity of social media, in which the cue phrases are often expressed in sub-standard form or even omitted from sentences. To tackle these problems, this paper proposes the attention-based LSTM-CNNs for the …

The Intersection Of Literacy And Digital Literacy: Incorporating Writing Standards With Computer Technology Standards, Grace Mcpherson

Honors Theses

This project aims to increase access to computer science/computer technology education by providing teachers resources to enable them to teach computer science/computer technology. A survey was taken to discover the interests and needs of teachers in Hamilton County, Tennessee. The project resulted in the creation of several lesson plans that integrate English and computer science through hands-on web development exercises, computational thinking opportunities, and critical thinking.

Use Of Stereolithographic 3d Printing For Fabrication Of Micro And Millifluidic Devices For Undergraduate Engineering Studies, Cooper Thome

Honors Theses

Undergraduate STEM student performance is greatly benefited by supplementary, hands-on laboratory experience. Micro and millifluidic devices provide a multitude of opportunities for interactive study of concepts and phenomena encountered in nearly every field of engineering, as well as in chemistry, biology, and other disciplines. Unfortunately, due to the cost and difficulty of standard micro and millifluidic device fabrication methods, many undergraduate students do not have access to these versatile educational tools. Luckily, 3D printing offers an inexpensive and simple solution to this issue. This work aims to demonstrate the capability of stereolithographic (SLA) 3D printing for the fabrication of micro …

Occupational Therapy: A Partner For Justice In Jesuit Higher Education, Rebecca M. Aldrich

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

The commitment to justice spans disciplines across Jesuit higher education, including the health sciences. At least 12 Jesuit colleges and universities offer occupational therapy programs, but the profession has been somewhat overlooked as a partner for justice on those campuses. Through a case example focusing on Saint Louis University’s Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy (SLU-DOSOT), this article aims to illustrate the ways in which occupational therapy can be a partner in the promotion and pursuit of justice. A brief overview of the profession’s perspective on occupational justice precedes the description of SLU-DOSOT, and selected examples illustrate the range …

#Black Lives Matter? Analyzing The Effects Of Police-Caused Black Deaths On Media Coverage And Public Interest In The Movement, Francesca Bordonaro, Dale Willits

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

Black Lives Matter is a social movement, created and maintained on social media networks; its formation was spurred in part by the number of Black men and women who have been killed by police officers in the United States. This research focuses on the relationship between police-caused deaths of Black men and women and media coverage of and public interest in Black Lives Matter. The primary goal of the research was to determine whether traditional news coverage of Black Lives Matter was linked to the killings of Black citizens by police. We found that Black citizen deaths did not result …

A Closer Look At The Eric Garner Incident: The New York Police Department Should Review Its Policy Instead Of Trying Its Police Officer, Andrew J. Costello

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

After an examination of the death of Eric Garner, existing laws and current practices of the New York Police Department (NYPD) come into question. A step-by-step breakdown of the events after the death of Eric Garner explains the outcome of legal decisions of the criminal process against Police Officer Pantaleo made by the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. An explanation and the likely outcome of the NYPD’s upcoming administrative trial are presented from an insider’s point of view. The author argues that the likely conviction of Officer Pantaleo on administrative charges, resulting in his termination, …

Measuring Disproportionate Treatment In Policing: One Department’S Experience, Heidi S. Bonner, Michele Stacey

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

Detecting disparate impact in policing practice is essential, but those tasked with developing such inquiry face significant challenges in designing analyses. Racial profiling research has also been plagued by an inability to gain consensus regarding valid comparison groups – commonly termed the “denominator problem” in benchmarking analyses. The current inquiry details the process and outcome of using the disproportionality index (Dolan Consulting Group, 2016) to investigate several enforcement actions at a midsize department in the southeastern United States. The findings highlight the importance of combining the appropriate benchmark with the appropriate level of analysis, and the need for more scholarly …

Characterization Of Microreactor And Analysis Of Carbonyl Compounds In Exhaled Breath., Qi Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Analysis of trace volatile organic compounds at parts per billion (ppbv) to parts per trillion (pptv) level has become an important research frontier because of the applicability for environmental monitoring and noninvasive diagnosis of diseases. The methods of preconcentration for detection of trace aldehydes and ketones both in ambient air and human exhaled breath have increased considerably over the last decade. However, the majority of these methods are not efficient. In this dissertation, we have improved an innovative microreactor that is suitable for quantitative analysis of volatile carbonyl compounds (VOCs) in ambient air as well as in human exhaled breath. …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Targeted Bar Encapsulated Polylactic-Co-Glycolic Acid Nanoparticles To Inhibit Porphyromonas Gingivalis Biofilm Formation., Ranjith Radha Krishnan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Periodontal disease is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases worldwide. Between 30-50% of the global adult population suffers from periodontal disease. Some form of periodontitis is present in 46% of American adults, corresponding to annual expenditures in excess of 14 billion dollars for treatment and prevention. Current treatments for periodontal diseases involve mechanical removal of plaque, correction of risk factors, gingival surgery and/or antibiotic therapy. To our knowledge there is no effective therapeutic approach that aims to limit pathogen colonization of the oral biofilm or re-colonization after treatment. Interaction of the pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis with oral streptococci is critical …

Anatomy 204l: Laboratory Manual (Second Edition), Ethan Snow

Open Educational Resources

This laboratory manual is designed for undergraduate anatomy labs. It includes self-assessment resources and examination set up guides.

The Poor And Marginalized Among Us: Contingent Faculty In Jesuit Universities, Richard D. Clark, Carrie Buchanan, Christina Rawls

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Faculty of institutions of higher learning have an opportunity to discuss, debate and discern how to create workplaces that are just and inclusive. As members of Jesuit institutions, we have a moral obligation to do so. How, then, can Jesuit universities justify the poor treatment of contingent faculty, who are now a majority not just in our institutions, but in the country as a whole? Tenure-track employment is a fading tradition in universities throughout the United States. The data also show that non-tenure-track faculty, particularly the growing number of part-time adjunct faculty, constitute a population of marginalized, often poor, employees …

The Helper Therapy Principle: Using The Power Of Service To Save Addicts, Stefan J. Padfield, Maria E. Pagano

University of Memphis Law Review

No abstract provided.

Providing Nautical Chart Awareness To Autonomous Surface Vehicles, Samuel John Reed

Master's Theses and Capstones

Autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) have many applications in both military and civilian domains including mine countermeasure, seafloor mapping, and physical oceanography. However, to act as effective tools, ASVs require high levels of autonomy. Currently, many commercially available ASVs have static mission plans with minimal awareness of their environment, which results in a labor intensive approach that does not scale to management of multiple vehicles. In this research, ASV autonomy was increased through the development of an intelligent mission planner and a real-time obstacle avoidance system utilizing Electronic Nautical Charts (ENCs), which describe known hazards in the marine environment without suffering …

The Impact Of Dams On Floods And Nitrogen Flux In The Lamprey River Watershed, Nh, David Simon

Master's Theses and Capstones

Decisions about dam management require weighing many tradeoffs. Among many other factors, dams and their reservoirs can reduce peak flows and retain nutrients that could otherwise cause downstream eutrophication. This study quantifies how dams and their management alter flows and nutrient retention within a coastal New Hampshire watershed. An annual nitrogen budget was estimated at Pawtuckaway Lake, a dammed reservoir within the Lamprey River watershed, through field work. Results showed that annual total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) retention within Pawtuckaway Lake were close to estimates predicted by an empirical model developed by Seitzinger et al. 2002. …

Bayesian Integrative Analysis Of Omics Data, Youyi Zhang

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Technological innovations have produced large multi-modal datasets that range in multiplatform genomic data, pathway data, proteomic data, imaging data and clinical data. Integrative analysis of such data sets have potentiality in revealing important biological and clinical insights into complex diseases like cancer. This dissertation focuses on Bayesian methodology establishment in integrative analysis of radiogenomics and pathway driver detection applied in cancer applications. We initially present Radio-iBAG that utilizes Bayesian approaches in analyzing radiological imaging and multi-platform genomic data, which we establish a multi-scale Bayesian hierarchical model that simultaneously identifies genomic and radiomic, i.e., radiology-based imaging markers, along with the latent …

Lapin The Trickster Rabbit, Susan Swan

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

M: um can you tell me about Lapin? *pronnounces luh-PAN*

J: Lapin? [corrects pronunciation to *LAH-pan*] Uh yeah. Lapin is a trickster rabbit comes from Cajun or Creole southern, actually… actually trickster lapin comes from western Africa and the slaves that were brought to the united states from Africa brought their tradition of the trickster rabbit. So, you have Lapin and Brer rabbit and a couple other uh characters that are that kind of came out of that tradition. Bugs bunny maybe. Uh so Lapin we found lapin in a bookstore there in Logan in downtown Logan. We were walking …

The Progress Of Tobacco Control Research In Sub-Saharan Africa In The Past 50 Years: A Systematic Review Of The Design And Methods Of The Studies, Hadii M. Mamudu, Pooja Subedi, Ali E. Alamin, Sreenivas P. Veeranki, Daniel Owusu, Amy Poole, Lazarous Mbulo, A. E. Ogwell Ouma, Adekunle Oke

ETSU Faculty Works

Over one billion of the world’s population are smokers, with increasing tobacco use in low-and middle-income countries. However, information about the methodology of studies on tobacco control is limited. We conducted a literature search to examine and evaluate the methodological designs of published tobacco research in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the past 50 years. The first phase was completed in 2015 using PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. An additional search was completed in February 2017 using PubMed. Only tobacco/smoking research in SSA countries with human subjects and published in English was selected. Out of 1796 …

The Helper Therapy Principle: Using The Power Of Service To Save Addicts, Stefan J. Padfield, Maria E. Pagano

University of Memphis Law Review

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Experiences Of Students Re-Admitted After Academic Suspension As Part Of A University-Initiated Process: A Qualitative Study, Gary L. Versalle

Dissertations

Student persistence and retention continues to be a major issue facing most institutions of higher education. With ever more diverse student populations, researchers studied a multitude of groups and sub-groups of students based on ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, or age. These studies looked at how these various student groups can be supported and retained. Students who returned to school after having been academically dismissed are one group which has been consistently underreported. Reentry practices remained largely unchanged and still require the student to initiate the process. This phenomenological study examined the experiences of students accepted into the Reclaim the W …

Annual Report On Energy-Efficient Purchasing, Central Procurement Office, Fiscal Year 2017-2018, Tennessee. Department Of General Services.

Energy-Efficiency Reports

No abstract provided.

The Paradox Of Regulating Lobbying Through Legislation, Shirley Naveh

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

Originalism As Fable (Reviewing Eric Segall, Originalism As Faith), Jeremy Telman

Hofstra Law Review

Eric Segall's Originalism as Faith provides both a history of the originalist movement in constitutional interpretation and a critique of that movement from the perspective of legal realism. This Review Article summarizes Segall's main argument: as originalism has abandoned deference to the political branches, it has become indistinguishable from its nemesis, living constitutionalism. Emptied of substance, originalism becomes nothing more than an expression of faith. Segall makes his argument very convincingly, evidencing both his knowledge of originalism, in all its variants, and his mastery of constitutional doctrine.

This Article offers two ways in which Segall's exemplary work might be supplemented. …

Transgender Beneficiaries: In Becoming Who You Are, Do You Lose The Benefits Attached To Who You Were, Ashleigh C. Rousseau

Hofstra Law Review

Suppose William Smith, father of Joseph Smith, executes a will to leave his estate to his children. In his will, the phrase "to my son, Joseph" is used, preceding a bequest for property. Before William dies, Julia embraces her transgender identity, obtains a lawful name change to Julia, obtains a lawful gender marker change, and undergoes sex confirmation surgery. William dies, and his estate is divided. Is Julia still entitled to Joseph's portion of William's estate? In embracing her transgender identity, is she deprived of her right to inherit?