Digital Commons Network^™

Eight Tips For Teaching Through Tough Times, Glynis M. Bradfield

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Surprising Grace, Jiří Moskala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sex To Nezachrání (Sex Won’T Save It [Marriage]), Petr Činčala

Faculty Publications

An article written for Czech booklet for Christian Home Week.

"We Aim At Nothing Less Than The Whole World": The Seventh-Day Adventist Church's Missionary Enterprise And The General Conference Secretariat, 1863-2019. [Review], Andrew Tompkins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Adaptive Sliding Mode Control Of Small Satellites In Formation For Distributed Beamforming Applications, Mason Earl Nixon

Dissertations

The rising popularity of small satellites over the past few decades has created a new boom in space, and, in particular, in low-Earth orbit. Exciting novel applications are being proposed that enable these small satellites to offer many advantages over their monolithic counterparts which can allow for augmentation, or possibly even replacement of more expensive and large alternatives. One particular enabling method is flying small satellites in formation for antenna array applications, which, through coupled dynamical modeling, can be facilitated through robust, nonlinear techniques of control. Thus, control of a perturbed satellite formation antenna array, with dual quaternion dynamics, is …

Nanomaterials In Theranostics : Therapeutics And Diagnosis Against Infectious Diseases, Unnatiben S. Patel

Dissertations

Nanomaterials-based hybrid nano therapy is gaining attraction as a promising way to treat intracellular bacterial infections. Gold-based nanomaterials have been widely used for biomedical applications such as photothermal therapy (PTT). This thesis discusses the development of a combination therapeutic approach that kills intracellular bacteria in conjunction with photothermal and antibiotic therapy using gold nanorod (GNR) based nano-assembly. This NIR laser-activated nano-assembly delivers antibiotics to the site of infection and offers PTT. The synergistic application of both therapies increases the efficacy of treatment. The protected delivery of antibiotics and their release in the proximity of the bacterial surface decreases off-target toxicity …

Accuracy Improvement Of Dynamic Sensors Measured Input Reconstruction Using Sliding Mode Observers, Rajesh Rayala Jayasheelareddy

Dissertations

Sensor dynamics adversely affect the accuracy of the obtained measurement by dynamically distorting the true value. The accuracy of the measurement may be further degraded by noise/exogenous perturbations. A sensor’s accuracy and performance are improved by reconstructing the true input signal of the sensor from the distorted measurement polluted by a corruption signal or exogenous inputs using Sliding mode and Higher-order sliding mode observer (SMO/HOSMO). The proposed technique is used to reconstruct/estimate a sensor’s true signal, thereby improving the transient response and driving the estimation steady state error to zero in finite time. The proposed SMO algorithm is based on …

The Universality Of Solubility Divergence Effects In Multicomponent Liquid Mixtures, Pauline R. Norris

Dissertations

Critical point effects have been observed in pure fluids, ferromagnets, substitutional alloys, and in binary liquid mixtures having a miscibility gap. That these systems are disparate, while the phenomena observed are similar, serves as the basis for the statement of the Principle of Critical Point Universality, which governs all critical behavior. The effect of the critical point on solute solubility is readily observed; the solubility diverges towards infinity in the critical region. One finds in the critical region that the slope (∂ln solubility/ ∂ (1/Temperature)) of a plot of ln solubility vs 1/Temperature diverges toward infinity if only one composition …

Discovery Of Counter Iads Swarming Autonomy Behaviors With Machine Learning, Joshua Robbins

Dissertations

Counter air-defense operations in highly contested airspaces pose significant risk to human life and scarce material resources, making it desirable to reduce the exposure of personnel to risk of loss of life and limb. Replacing human-piloted air platforms with a swarm of low-cost, unmanned systems in the contest for air superiority is therefore an area of intense interest. However, no doctrinal or tactical best practices for swarming combat yet exist. This dissertation documents research conducted to develop a systematical framework for discovery of counter-air defense tactics for unmanned aerial vehicles under control of a cognitive agent, using a reinforcement learning …

Phase Rule And Isomorphism Principle Analysis Of Critical Phenomena In Multicomponent Systems, Xingjian Wang

Dissertations

This dissertation investigates critical phenomena in the liquid mixture near its liquid-liquid critical solution temperature, especially for critical effects on solubilities and turbidities. According to the Griffiths-Wheeler rule, the critical effect is expected for the derivatives of a density variable with respect to a field variable in the system with less than two fixed density variables. The power of the phase rule for solving the number of fixed densities and predicting critical effects is examined in multicomponent systems with the numbers of fixed density variables between zero to two. When the excess solid solute is added into a binary liquid …

Modeling A Power-Generating Pulsed Nuclear Magnetic Nozzle, Nathan Schilling

Dissertations

Pulsed nuclear (fusion, fission, and fission/fusion hybrid) propulsion systems provide the potential for 10,000 s specific impulse and specific powers of 1000 W of jet power per kg of propulsion system mass. This enables a new class of medium thrust, high specific impulse capability, resulting in 1/3 of the trip times and significantly higher payload mass fractions compared with chemical propulsion performing the same mission. One of the challenges for pulsed nuclear propulsion is the conversion of an isotropic explosion to directed thrust, another challenge is the generation of electrical power needed to run these systems. To meet both of …

A Pipeline To Study Hst Acs/Wfc3 Data And Examples Of Its Applications, William V. Waldron

Dissertations

Even at over 30 years after its launch, HST still provides cutting-edge data in the optical, especially with its imaging cameras WFC3 and ACS. We present a pipeline to reduce and study the WFC3 and ACS data on nearby galaxies. Particularly, the results on an archetypal galaxy undergoing RPS, ESO 137-001, in the nearby cluster Abell 3627, are discussed in detail. ESO 137-001 is known to host a prominent tail caused by RPS that is detected in many bands from X-rays, Hα to CO. The HST data reveal significant features indicative of RPS such as asymmetric surface brightness and dust …

Investigating The Effect Of An Immersive Extracurricular Stem Program On Underrepresented And Disadvantaged High School Students' Self-Efficacy, Science Anxiety, And Career Aspirations, Nikki Mertz

Dissertations

This mixed methods study was designed to assess how an immersive extracurricular STEM program affected a student’s self-efficacy, science anxiety, and career aspirations. This study utilized the SIC-STEM survey to quantify student self-efficacy in science and the STEM Semantics survey to quantify student interest in STEM. Both surveys also assessed student interest in pursuing careers in STEM. The Science Anxiety survey was used to evaluate how student anxiety in science changed throughout the study. A subject matter survey was utilized to quantify student understanding and comprehension of an advanced science topic. Focus groups were used as the qualitative piece to …

Constraining Intrinsic Properties Of Gamma-Ray Bursts From Core-Collapse Supernovae And Neutron Star Mergers, Rachel Hamburg

Dissertations

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are ultra-relativistic jets produced by either the core-collapse of massive, stripped envelope stars (i.e., "collapsars") or the merging of compact binary objects, such as neutron stars. GRBs are among the most energetic transients in the Universe, yet despite over 5 decades of study, a full description of their intrinsic energetics remains incomplete. This is primarily due to a combination of cosmological, relativistic, and observational effects that have impeded obtaining GRB redshift measurements and robustly associating GRBs with their progenitors. In this dissertation, I study source-frame properties of GRBs from collapsars and binary neutron star (BNS) mergers. In …

Exploring The Utility Of Geostationary Satellite Observations In Air Quality Studies, Peiyang Cheng

Dissertations

The air quality community uses numerical models for air quality forecasting and establishing regulatory policies. However, the prediction of clouds and the estimation of emissions remain highly uncertain, limiting the credibility and usefulness of model results. This study explored how Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) observations can be used to reduce the uncertainty in air quality simulations. The major findings are summarized as follows. First, assimilating the GOES-13 cloud products into a numerical weather prediction model improved the agreement between model-predicted and satellite-observed clouds by 3.5%. Model surface insolation bias and error were reduced by 7.1 W m^–2 (13.1%) …

An Investigation Of The Impact Of Canadian Wildfires On Us Air Quality Using Satellite, Model And Ground Measurements, Zhixin Xue

Dissertations

In recent years, frequent and widespread wildfires in Canada have become the “new normal” during summer, which degrades the U.S. air quality significantly. Smoke from wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta can be transported by northwesterly winds to the U.S. and cause health issues to vulnerable populations, which also increases the health costs to the country. During the fire season, daily PM2.5 in cities along the smoke transport path in the United States can increase 5 to 10 times compared to pre-fire values. This research examined different processes affecting smoke's vertical and horizontal transport and quantified the increase in fine …

Functionalized Nanomaterials As Tailored Theranostics, Kavini M. Rathnayake

Dissertations

Theranostic nanoparticles are a type of biodegradable and biocompatible multifunctional nanosystems in combination with diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities for more specific and personalized disease management. However, difficulties still exist in engineering biocompatible theranostic nanoparticles with highly specific to intracellular bacteria and tumor. Development of nanoassemblies which can overcome these difficulties to achieve maximum therapeutic efficacy of the drugs will be discussed in this dissertation. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is an opportunistic pathogen, which causes serious lung infections in immunocompromised patients. Traditional oral intake of large quantities of small-molecule antibiotics to treat bacterial infections leads to off-target toxicity and development of drug-resistant …

Emotions And Precedent, Emily Kidd White

All Papers

The philosophy of emotion raises complications for theories of precedent. This chapter argues that it is productive to think of the effect of some precedents as facets of legal reasoning that are related to the use and understanding of legal concepts as thick concepts. In legal reasoning, precedents are routinely invoked to explicate, and/or clarify the content of legal concepts that are at issue in a case. This chapter develops an argument by Bernard Williams, i.e., that one must avoid the risk of over-generalizing the relationship of emotions to thick concepts, by placing it in the context of legal reasoning. …

The Negotiable Transport Document, Benjamin Geva

All Papers

With the emergence of a long-distance land-based trade, along with the expansion of a non-sea based multimodal trade, a demand arose for a negotiable transport document which is not limited to marine transport. A series of international conventions responded to such demand by providing for new types of negotiable transport documents. However, these conventions failed to accord to such documents the features of a document of title and to clarify their negotiable character. The task of overcoming this obstacle is hindered by the fragmentary nature of the law governing the marine bill of lading, which is the classic transport document …

Notes Toward A Supreme (Legal) Fiction, Emily Kidd White

All Papers

Maksymilian Del Mar’s new book, Artefacts of Legal Inquiry: The Value of Imagination in Adjudication offers a finely drawn map of various ways of reasoning in and through law. The book is about the ways that thoughts, values, commitments and ways of seeing, move, take hold, settle, startle and – at times – release grip, reorient, and/or transmute. It is a book that is teeming with references. There are threads to pull at everywhere.

The Legal Relations Of ‘Private’ Forests: Making And Unmaking Private Forest Lands On Vancouver Island, Estair Van Wagner

All Papers

While the vast majority of forestlands in Canada are considered ‘Crown land’, there are key areas of private forestland. On private land the incidents of fee simple ownership mean the owner emerges as land use decision maker – the “agenda setter” for the land. Yet a richer set of legal relations exists in these forests.

Indigenous legal orders derived from an enduring relationship with the land and place also govern forestlands. Using the case of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway lands in British Columbia, this article explores the intersection between historical and contemporary human-forest relations upheld by Anglo-Canadian law and …

The Text And The Ballot Box: S.3, S.33 And The Right To Cast An Informed Vote, Jamie Cameron

All Papers

Section 33, which empowers legislatures to override most of the Charter’s fundamental rights and guarantees, has resurfaced in recent years and more ominously, as a rights-negating mechanism. The relationship between s.33 and the Charter’s non-derogable rights is one issue that has arisen under s.33 legislation enacted by Quebec and Ontario. In Ontario, Bill 307’s use of the override to reinstate unconstitutional restrictions on third party political advertising also engages the democratic rights of voters protected by s.3 of the Charter. In marking the first time override legislation forms the backdrop to s.3’s interpretation, Working Families v. Ontario …

The Global Tax Agreement: Some Truths And Legal Realities, Jinyan Li

All Papers

With much pomp and ceremony, it was announced that member jurisdictions of the G20/OECD BEPS Inclusive Framework “agreed to a two-pillar solution to address the tax challenges from the digitalization of the economy” (the “Two-Pillar Agreement”) This agreement has been hailed by some as “historic”, “momentous”, “revolutionary”, but criticized by others as “harmful to developing countries”, cartelistic power grabbing by a few powerful countries, or neocolonialism. So, is the agreement a cause for celebration or the opposite? What is the chance of the Agreement become real law? In this article, I try to first explain what the two-pillar agreement is …

The Myth Of Legal Realist Skepticism, Dan Priel

All Papers

Here are some things everyone knows about the legal realists: They didn’t believe in legal rules, they thought—and demonstrated—that law is inherently indeterminate, and they taught us that it is the personality of the judge that decided cases. To the extent that they studied legal doctrine, it was in order to demonstrate its incoherence. This is why they “vociferously objected” to the Restatements. It is the victory of their ideas that killed the doctrinal legal treatise as a respectable form of scholarship in the United States. In addition to this jurisprudential radicalism, the legal realists were also politically radical. Their …

Religion, Public Law, And The Refuge Of Formalism, Howard Kislowicz, Benjamin Berger

All Papers

In this article we suggest that the encounter with religious legal traditions has surfaced a distinct vein of formalism in Canadian public law, discernable across the Court’s law and religion jurisprudence. This is so despite the centrality of substantive analysis in the account Canadian public law gives of itself. But there are distinct challenges and a particular anxiety that surrounds the law-religion encounter; we argue that the fraught sovereignty and pluralism problems that this encounter presents has led Canadian public law to rediscover its formalist habits and the comfort that they bring.

The Supreme Court of Canada’s decisions in Wall …

Essential Jobs, Remote Work And Digital Surveillance: Addressing The Covid-19 Pandemic Panopticon, Antonio Aloisi, Valerio De Stefano

All Papers

An unprecedented COVID-19-induced explosion in digital surveillance has reconfigured power relationships in professional settings. This article critically concentrates on the interplay between technology-enabled intrusive monitoring and the augmentation of 1

managerial prerogatives in physical and digital workplaces. It identifies excessive supervision as the common denominator of “essential” and “remotable” activities, besides discussing the various drawbacks faced by the two categories of workers during (and after) the pandemic. It also assesses the adequacy of the current European Union legal framework in addressing the expansion of data-driven management. Social dialogue, workers’ empowerment and digital literacy are identified as effective solutions to promote …

Bargaining Sectoral Standards: Towards Canadian Fair Pay Agreement Legislation, Sara Slinn, Mark Rowlinson

All Papers

This paper considers the recently introduced New Zealand Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) sectoral bargaining framework and offers a preliminary series of ideas and proposals setting out how an FPA model for bargaining sectoral standards could work in Canada. It is intended as the beginning of a more detailed discussion on the development of an FPA regime culminating in model legislation that could be adapted to different Canadian jurisdictions. Guided by principles of accountability, integration, and inclusivity, this proposal is intended to apply to all workers in an employment relationship – including dependent contractors and gig and platform workers. The proposed …

The Ai-Copyright Challenge: Tech-Neutrality, Authorship, And The Public Interest, Carys Craig

All Papers

Many of copyright’s core concepts—from authorship and ownership to infringement and fair use—are being challenged by the rapid rise of generative AI. Whether in service of creativity or capital, however, copyright law is perfectly capable of absorbing this latest innovation. More interesting than the doctrinal debates that AI provokes, then, is the opportunity it presents to revisit the purposes of the copyright system in the age of AI. After introducing the AI-copyright challenge in Part 1, Part 2 considers the guiding principles and normative objectives that underlie—and so ought to inform—copyright law and its response to AI technologies. It proposes …

The Construction Of Minorities: Self-Determination And The Legal Politics Of Religious Difference In Late Northern Nigeria, Circa 1949-1960, Rabiat Akande

All Papers

No abstract provided.

How Gender Impacts On-Shift Evidence-Based Medicine Activity And Patient Care, Jacob Albers, Ajay Varadhan, Jeffrey B. Brown, Estelle Cervantes Ba, Kashyap Kaul Do, Shreyas Kudrimoti Ba, Phillip Sgobba Bs, Mbs, William Spinosi Do, Joseph B. Zackary Md, Dawn M. Yenser, Bryan G. Kane Md

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.