Digital Commons Network^™

Powered Transtibial Prosthetic Device Control System Design, Implementation And Testing, Jinming Sun

Master's Theses (2009 -)

A powered lower limb prosthesis, which consists of a four bar mechanism, a torsional spring and a brushed DC motor, was previously designed and fabricated. To regulate the motor power input, a two level controller was proposed and built. The control algorithm includes a higher level finite state controller and lower level PID controllers. To implement the control system, a digital signal processor (DSP) control board and MATLAB Simulink were used to realize the higher level control and a DC motor controller was used to realize the lower level PID control. Sensors were selected to provide the required feedback. The …

Visualizing Demographic Change: Gentrification And Older Moms In Portland, Robert Lycan, Charles Rynerson

Publications, Reports and Presentations

A presentation that attempts to shed light on social processes in Portland, Oregon, and provide a look at how GIS and demographic tools can be used to dissect complicated issues.

Gametes: A Fast, Direct Algorithm For Generating Pure, Strict, Epistatic Models With Random Architectures, Ryan J. Urbanowicz, Jeff Kiralis, Nicholas A. Sinnott-Armstrong, Tamra Heberling, Jonathan M. Fisher, Jason H. Moore

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Geneticists who look beyond single locus disease associations require additional strategies for the detection of complex multi-locus effects. Epistasis, a multi-locus masking effect, presents a particular challenge, and has been the target of bioinformatic development. Thorough evaluation of new algorithms calls for simulation studies in which known disease models are sought. To date, the best methods for generating simulated multi-locus epistatic models rely on genetic algorithms. However, such methods are computationally expensive, difficult to adapt to multiple objectives, and unlikely to yield models with a precise form of epistasis which we refer to as pure and strict. Purely and …

A Multi-Performance Comparison Of Long-Span Structural Systems, E. Douville, B. Thompson, Corey T. Griffin, Kpff Consulting Engineers

Research-Based Design Initiative

When a building requires a long span, especially on the ground floor of a multi-story building, the long span often determines the structural system used early in the design pro-cess without any other consideration. Commercial and residential buildings are responsible for roughly 40% of all carbon emissions and energy use, more than any other sector in the USA. Moreover, this excludes the significant energy and emissions required to extract, process, trans-port and assemble building components. Globally, the production of cement alone accounts for 4% of carbon dioxide emissions. Consequently, reducing the environmental impact of building construction and operations is critical …

The Principles Of Exterior Wall Systems, M. Coon, A. Green, T. Stephens, Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects

Research-Based Design Initiative

To assist designers and clients alike in understanding, investigating, and detailing wall systems, Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects has created a document known as the Principles of Exterior Wall Systems (PEWS). This assemblage of information highlights their main types of wall systems including rain screens, mass walls, curtain walls and other systems while consisting of graphic models, sections, and diagrams. In an effort to further enhance the PEWS document, an investigation of alternative material options provides additional consideration to provoke conversation and deliberation. This additional materials database documents a variety of different interior and exterior insulation types. Detailing the attributes of …

Connecting Habitat Across Roads: Field Testing Mitigation Strategies For Reducing Road Mortality Of An Imperiled Butterfly, Rebecca Jalene Littlejohn

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Roads impact wildlife in a variety of ways including fragmentation of populations, reduced access to habitat, and direct mortality from vehicle strikes. Such road effects likely impact the Oregon silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene hippolyta) at one of its few remaining sites. The Rock Creek-Big Creek population of this threatened fritillary butterfly species is bisected by highway 101 on the central Oregon coast. Habitat resources for S. z. hippolyta are found on both the east and west sides of the highway at this site, and vehicle-strikes have been found to cause mortality of some individuals crossing the highway. The …

Troublesome Concepts And Information Literacy: Investigating Threshold Concepts For Il Instruction, Amy R. Hofer, Lori Townsend, Korey Brunetti

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

Librarians regularly encounter students who struggle to understand and apply information literacy concepts. A qualitative survey administered to information literacy practitioners asked about troublesome content and analyzed results using the threshold concepts pedagogical framework first described by Jan Meyer and Ray Land. A threshold concept transforms the learner’s view of content and helps integrate previously learned material; threshold concepts are portals that, once traversed, bring insight into how to think and act like a practitioner within a discipline. This project uses the data collected to propose seven threshold concepts for information literacy.

A Regulatory Design For Monetary Stability, Morgan Ricks

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article proposes a unified regulatory approach to the issuance of "money-claims"--a generic term that refers to fixed-principal, very short-term IOUs, excluding trade credit. The instability of this market is arguably the central problem for financial regulatory policy. Yet our existing regulatory system lacks a coherent approach to this market. The Article proposes a public-private partnership ("PPP") regime, under which only licensed entities would be permitted to issue money - claims (subject to de minimis exceptions). Licensed money- claim issuers would be required to abide by portfolio restrictions and capital requirements. In addition, the government would explicitly insure licensed issuers' …

State V. Smith Appellant's Reply Brief Dckt. 39183

Not Reported

No abstract provided.

Public Forum 2.1: Public Higher Education Institutions And Social Media, Robert H. Jerry Ii, Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky

UF Law Faculty Publications

Like most of us, public colleges and universities increasingly are communicating via Facebook, Second Life, YouTube, Twitter and other social media. Unlike most of us, public colleges and universities are government actors, and their social media communications present complex administrative and First Amendment challenges. The authors of this article — one the dean of a major public university law school responsible for directing its social media strategies, the other a scholar of social media and the First Amendment — have combined their expertise to help public university officials address these challenges. To that end, this article first examines current and …

Legal Tolerance Toward The Business Lie And The Puffery Defense: The Questionable Assumptions Of Contract Law, M. Neil Browne, Kathleen M. S. Hale, Maureen Cosgrove

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

American contract law is supposed to facilitate the efficiency and fairness of market transactions between parties.  Does the increasing success of the puffery defense in false advertising and securities cases further the fairness of transactions between companies with major advertising budgets and consumers?  This Article contends that it does not.

In assessing the validity of a market transaction, American contract law assumes that transparency exists between the parties.  But because of courts’ willingness to accept the puffery defense, companies have significant ability to lessen the transparency.  Puffing about products or services, such as claims that a product is the best …

Perils And Pontifications: Reflections On The Failures And Joys Of A Law Teacher, John W. Teeter Jr.

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

In this Article, John Teeter reexamines his life as a law teacher and engages in uncommonly pungent self-criticism that he hopes will prove insightful for other professors and those pondering a career in academics.  By reassessing critical decisions he made as a student, a lawyer, and a teacher, Teeter reveals how he repeatedly undermined both his interpersonal aspirations and professional potential.  Such failures have given rise to their own solace and peculiar wisdom, however, and Teeter also explicates the joy he derives from teaching and offers ideas on how others can enhance their fulfillment and success in the academy.

Practitioner’S Guide To The Voluntary Payment Doctrine, Colin E. Flora

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

In the two centuries since its inception, the voluntary payment doctrine has become a powerful instrument for defendants to resist the repayment of money not rightfully owed.  This Article examines the origins, evolution, modern application, and approaches to defeat the application of the doctrine.  The Article aspires to provide practitioners with the tools necessary to navigate their clients’ cases through the treacherous waters of the voluntary payment doctrine by seeing how the doctrine is applied throughout the many American jurisdictions, the underlying rationales, and the ways that litigants have been able to defeat its application.  The Article also includes tables …

Burdens Of Proof And Qualified Immunity, Kenneth Duvall

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Despite the need to strike a proper balance between effective § 1983 suits to deter government misconduct and corresponding, robust defenses to deter frivolous suits, courts across the nation cannot agree on the fundamental questions of what the proper defenses to § 1983 actions are or how to allocate the burdens of proof in such litigation.  This Article would remedy this situation, proposing an approach that offers both a single defense to § 1983 claims and a uniform allocation of the burdens of proof when that defense is raised.

In Part II, this Article briefly explains the burdens of proof, …

Broke: The Pocketbook Of Illinois And The Single Subject Rule After Wirtz V. Quinn, 953 N.E.2d 899 (Ill. 2011)., Eric Block

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

State courts have wrestled with the single subject rule for over a century and a half.  A workable legal standard for this rule has been elusive, however.  A recent Illinois case addressing a controversial piece of legislation illustrates just how evasive the application of this rule can be.  In Wirtz v. Quinn, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld a state “stimulus” package, which addressed topics ranging from candy taxes to video gaming in its nearly three hundred pages, because it felt that the bill fell under the subject of “capital projects.”  In addition to introducing a new “smoking gun” requirement, …

Resource Review: Breakout Edu, Rachel Bayer, Catherine Sorenson

Journal of Youth Development

Game-based learning is becoming an increasingly popular pedagogical technique for providing engaging learning experiences for youth. The Breakout EDU platform provides an opportunity to bring game-based learning into formal and non-formal learning environments using an escape-room-like approach while teaching specific subject areas and building life skills. There are more than 1,500 ready-made games for teaching a variety of topic areas, from science and math to team building, in any learning context. It also provides resources and tools to support youth development professionals in creating their own games. This review provides an overview of Breakout EDU and its kit and digital …

Kids Growing With Grains: Connecting Agriculture, Nutrition, And Environmental Literacy, Rachel Bayer, Ashley Travis, Chenzi Wang

Journal of Youth Development

Kids Growing with Grains is a school-based agricultural education program that improves youths’ conceptual understanding of how agriculture is linked to nutrition, the environment, and human health. University of Maryland Extension Educators developed the program’s hands-on activities, which focus on grain science, grains and the environment, grains and animals, and grain nutrition. The program is traditionally implemented through a station-based field trip experience lasting 4 hours in length. The program has been evaluated using a mixed-methods approach that includes qualitative and quantitative data collected from both teachers and students. Evaluation results from the past 2 years indicate the program is …

Mine Action And Development: Challenges Of Inter-Organizational Relationships, Brian Da Cal

Global CWD Repository

This project examines the history of mine action as well as the debated link between landmines and development. It also explains why strong, inter-organisational relationships between the mine action and development sectors are so critical for both humanitarian and socio-economic, development reasons. It examines major influences and challenges to establishing and sustaining such relationships, characterised by a lack of coordination on policy, planning and practice, at the international, national and field level. The likely causes for these challenges are examined, ranging from historical differences in the culture, vision and values of people and organisations within those sectors, segregated donor funding …

Mcquade Messenger- Fall 2012, Merrimack College

McQuade Messenger

Triannual newsletter outlining the activities, events, hours, features, and resources available at McQuade Library. Fall 2012, 4 pages.

Michael Murray, Nature Red In Tooth And Claw: Theism And The Problem Of Animal Suffering, Joseph J. Lynch

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

More Than Inspired Propositions: Shared Attention And The Religious Text, Adam Green, Keith A. Quan

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Foundations Of Skeptical Theism: Cornea, Core, And Conditional Probabilities, Stephen J. Wykstra, Timothy Perrine

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Is It Really Just All About Sex And Money? A Case Study Of Teenage Motherhood In The Village Of Kwaximba In The Valley Of A 1,000 Hills, Margaret Nelson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The aim of this learnership at the Valley Trust was to gain insight into why teenage girls in the Valley of the 1,000 Hills fall pregnant and what is the cost of early motherhood on the future of young women. Previous research of the province KwaZulu-Natal has revealed that teenage pregnancies are a large problem in school districts and restricting the future academic pursuits of teenage mothers. The learner worked alongside the Valley Trust in coordination with their outreach programs in the local villages of the Valley of a 1,000 Hills to learn fundamental and underlying reasons behind teenage pregnancy …

The Valley Trust: A Historical Review Of Food Security And Nutrition-Related Programs At A Health Promotion Non-Governmental Organization In The Valley Of A Thousand Hills, Kwazulu-Natal, Jeannine Garcia

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The aim of this study is to provide an in-depth review and analysis of past and present programs focused on food security and nutrition at The Valley Trust, in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, KwaZulu-Natal. The Valley Trust is a socio-medical health promotion NGO that works to improve the health of the communities it serves through development, empowerment, and educational initiatives. The study will seek to provide an overview of the various activities The Valley Trust has engaged in over its long history related to improving the nutritional status of communities it influences.

Data was collected on the history …

Nutrition And Diabetic Management In Urban Kenya, Madeline Jackson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This Independent Study project sought to identify the changes in nutrition from the traditional Luo culture to the new urban setting and explore the management, perceptions and prevalence of Type II diabetes in an increasingly urban area. The focus was on Type II diabetes since the majority of disease burden stems from this acquired form of the diabetes. Through speaking with elderly community members and shadowing the first line diabetic treatment centers in Kisumu, an assessment of the relationship between changing nutrition and diabetic management showed numerous gaps in the system that will continue to increase unless something is done. …

Le Communautarisme Au Cameroun : Analyse Comparative Entre Les Associations Ethniques Et Les Associations Non-Ethniques Et Leurs Effets À Yaoundé, Lauren R. Stocks-Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cette étude interpelle la philosophie communautaire, un fondement ancien de la société africaine, en milieu contemporain et urbain au Cameroun. Au sein de la capitale Yaoundé, toute une gamme de communautés forme leurs propres associations qu’elles soient basées sur l’ethnie, la profession ou sur un autre point commun. Cette recherche explore la raison pour laquelle les Camerounais se regroupent et les modes de fonctionnent des associations ethniques comparé aux associations non-ethniques. Malheureusement, le communautarisme d’aujourd’hui est au cœur des conflits interethniques sanglants partout dans le monde. Aucune association de cette étude ne révèle cela, mais ces structures sociales influencent véritablement …

The Perceptions, Problems, And Possibilities Of Cameroonians With Mental Disabilities: A Case Study Of Le Centre National De Réhabilitation Des Personnes Handicapées De Yaoundé, Lauren Miller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For my study, I focused on the state of persons with mental disabilities in Yaoundé, Cameroon, a discriminated and marginalized population. I completed an internship at Le Centre National de Réhabilitation des Personnes Handicapées in the special education school as a case study. There, through participant observation, simple observation and interviews as well as outside research, I gathered information regarding my research questions and hypothesis:

1. Who is responsible for the majority of persons with mental disabilities?
2. What are the affects of perceptions of persons with mental disabilities?
3. What are some possibilities for a better life and through what means?

Hypothesis: …

East Versus West: Chinese And American Development Efforts And Perceptions In Cameroon, Grace Perkins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Every year, donor countries pour billions of dollars of foreign aid into developing recipient countries. Humanitarian and “win-win” rhetoric generally accompanies the grant, hospital, school, or sports stadium. To a realist international relations scholar, it is highly unlikely that powerful nations like the United States and China donate anything without political or economic strategic interests in mind. How do American and Chinese strategic interests affect the quality of development aid? This paper seeks to answer this question in the context of Cameroon, a Central African state rich in resources and young minds but whose growth is hampered by its colonial …

La Vista Desde Arriba: El Uso De Cartografía Participativa Para Empoderar A Las Comunidades Y Promover La Conservación Del Medio Ambiente Los Mapas Como Herramienta En El Proyecto De Cacao Silvestre En Baures, Beni, Lily Alexander

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El tema de este proyecto es la aplicación de la cartografía participativa con cinco diferentes comunidades de recolectores del cacao en la región de Baures, Bolivia. La investigación explora los elementos de esta metodología, cómo se implementa este proceso y el papel que los mapas pueden tener en el empoderamiento de la gente local de gestionar sus propios recursos naturales en una manera más sostenible. A través de mapas parlantes dibujados por las comunidades, reuniones con la gente local, coordenadas de GPS y digitalizaciones de la geografía de la región, he producido una variedad de mapas que representan el conocimiento …

Empresas Recuperadas, Elana Gold

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Starting during the neoliberal economic policies of the 90’s and continuing through the crisis of 2001, over 200 abandoned or bankrupt factories have been recuperated by their workers to maintain their jobs and argentine industry. These factories, called empresas recuperadas, have an important role in providing economic alternatives to the typical exploitation of capitalism as nearly all are maintained as cooperatives where members share in the decision-making process and profits. Although they have their roots in the militant union history of Argentina, in many ways they have differentiated themselves from the typical worker struggle.

These factories have an interesting relationship …